The Power to Change the Future
by Harry Albus Potter Dumbledore
Summary: Unknowingly, Harry makes a wish that sends him back to his fourth year during the time of the Third Task. Will Harry be able to save those who died for him? Will he be able to destroy all of those Horcruxes without anyone help or without anyone's knowing? What about school? What about his friends and family? AU. Slow updates, sorry. Currently under revision.
1. The Wish

**A/N:** Hello everybody and welcome to the first chapter of my Harry Potter story. I hope that everyone enjoys it, so please let me know how you feel about it. I would like to say that every idea in this story is my own, but then I would be lying. I have read too many stories, and there are bound to be ideas and things that already have been done. Therefore, I would like to say that any resemblance to another story is purely coincidence. If someone thinks that I stole their ideas than please PM me, and I will give you credit for it if your claim is true. I wouldn't want to anger my fellow writers, who inspired me so much.

**Full Summary:** After the final battle, Harry is devastated to find out that all the people he considers friends and family are dead. Unknowingly, Harry makes a wish that sends him back to his fourth year during the time of The Third Task. Will Harry be able to save those who died for him and destroy all of those Horcruxes without anyone help or without anyone's knowing? What about school? What about his friends and family?

This story is being Beta by cartersdaughter.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters.

* * *

><p><strong>The Power to Change the Future<strong>

**Chapter One**

**The Wish**

**Tuesday, May 5, 1998**

**3:00 pm **

I sat outside with my back leaning again a black wrought-iron fence underneath a large willow tree that was planted there God-only-knows when. I had been out here for what seemed like only five minutes when in reality it had been all day. I came here early this morning, and now, the sky was turning from a cold, grayish, cloudy day to a dark, black night. The weather fit just perfectly with the thoughts that I was thinking about all day; a miserable, cold, dark day to go along with my dark mood I was feeling at the moment.

I had sat out here all day, thinking of nothing but about the recent deaths of my beloved family and friends. It had only been a couple of days since Voldemort came to Hogwarts and tried to take over the school, ending in a huge battle that at the end caused the Dark Lord's death. My two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, along with me had just come back to Hogwarts to find and destroy Ravenclaw Diadem…the last Horcrux. Or so I thought at the time. I soon found out there were two more Horcruxes, which needed to be destroyed before Voldemort could die.

I knew after research and deep thinking that inside the castle was a Horcrux. Voldemort had hidden one here knowing no one would assume he would hide a piece of dark magic under Dumbledore's nose. My friends and I had just found it and destroyed the item when I felt a sharp lingering pain in my lightning bolt scar on my forehead - that Voldemort had kindly given me that dark Halloween night sixteen years ago. The cursed scar which alerted me when Voldemort was near, or when he was happy for some odd reason. The scar that connected me to him and the only way to break the connection was to kill one of us.

I felt the pain once again, and I silently prayed that this would be the very last time. My scar was warning me that Voldemort was coming, and Ron, Hermione, and I rushed – in the small amount of time we had – to get all the underage wizards and witches evacuated from the school and prepare anyone who was willing to fight.

Of course, Voldemort tried to get anyone inside the school to betray me and send me to his evil clutches in the Forbidden Forest. I will admit that there were a few Slytherins, who were willing to do so, but they were outnumbered several times over by those who were loyal to me and the right and justice they believed in. Either way, I came out of that school and stood in front of the Dark Lord, who was the cause of the deaths of my parents and turning my world upside down. The wizard who made my life miserable and did the same for countless other innocent victim families, who hadn't dared deserved an ounce of the pain that he brought on them.

We each exchanged words and then began a duel. I knew that it was time, and I was the last Horcrux. No one but I knew that little fact because if anyone else knew, they surely would've tried to stop me and beg me to think of another way to nullify it. And if I had more time, I would've researched it more thoroughly, but I didn't. And it was the best option at the time. Voldemort said the words of the Killing Curse and sent it my way, and I just stood there, waiting for it and not even attempting to move out of the way. For I knew this was the only way to destroy the living Horcrux that had been inside me for the past sixteen years.

I then met some people who had died in the past. Albus Dumbledore, Lily and James Potter, and Sirius Black were there, just to name a few. We talked for a few minutes before I was told that I was loved and that they would always be in my heart if I should ever need them. Furthermore, I was told…no, more like demanded…not to die until I was about two hundred. After that, I was sent off back to reality once again. By then, Voldemort and his goons of Death Eaters were celebrating my death by dragging my body around to show everyone that their Savior was dead and to surrender. However, I surprised Voldemort by being alive, and we once again dueled; this time we weren't alone as others started to fight the Death Eaters. The Dark Lord and I once again exchanged some words before he sent the Killing curse at me, and I sent a Disarming spell at him which ended in his downfall and killed him. Both of the curses met in the middle and turned the green light of the Killing curse back and hit Voldemort instead of me.

It was thanks to Ron, Hermione, Ron's little sister Ginny, and the two new additions to our group, Neville and Luna, that helped me in the end to finish the battle once and for all. Sadly, Voldemort's wasn't the only death I had to experience that night or the ones in the past. For all of my friends and family were killed that night and most of the Order as well. The ones who were still alive were older wizards and witches that I hardly knew in the past and still didn't to this day.

This finally ended the nightmare that started all those years ago but caused another one to begin. I had no one left after the battle. Well, that wasn't exactly true for I had my Godson, Teddy Remus Lupin, the only son of Nymphadora and Remus Lupin, who also had become victims and died that night. But honestly, I needed more of my family than just him. Yes, it sounded selfish, but nonetheless, true all the same, and no one could fault me for telling the truth. Besides, Andromeda Tonks, Teddy's maternal grandmother took him into her care since he was the last link to her beloved family now.

I was in constant agony for those who gave up their lives for me, and what they believed in. I felt guilty about their deaths. For if I wasn't alive then, they would've never died; and it was my entire fault!

It was all I thought about now. How, if I had just continued the argument about Ron and Hermione following me to track down the Horcruxes then, they would still be alive. How, if Ginny, Neville, Luna, and countless others didn't know me, then they would still be alive today. I knew the blame should go to the Dark Lord and his followers for their deaths, but I couldn't help but place most of the blame on myself.

I stared back at rows upon rows of tombstones protruding from the dry ground in the graveyard, not allowing my eyes to linger on anything else but the graves all day long. "I wish that you all were still here! I missed you all, so much it hurts! So much that I want so badly to end it once and for all, but I can't do that! For I know it would kill you all for me to not move on and continue my life like you wanted. That's the reason why you sacrificed your lives for me. To beat the dark and save my life. But I don't know how, or if I will be strong enough to do so. I need your help; I can't do this alone. I was alone once and I got used to it. But now that you all showed me that I would never be alone again; I took it for granted and look where it got me! You're all dead, and I have no one…NO ONE, YOU HEAR!" I sobbed, tears furiously running down my face, but I didn't wipe them away; just let them continue to fall freely.

"Thanks for all that you guys had done for me. Thanks for letting me get to know you and giving me good memories. Thanks for sticking by me when times got tough and risking your lives for me. Thank you for being my friends. I will miss you, but I'm sure we'll see each other someday. I love you all. So this is goodbye and thank you again for everything," I said quietly before getting up, my body protesting from sitting on the cold, hard ground all day.

I turned and slowly walked back to the entrance of the cemetery and out the kissing gate, not once looking back as I walked away from the nightmare that would never go away, not once stopping to greet friendly wizards and muggle folks alike, not once hearing whispers of voices that were being carried on the wind, nor the sudden heaviness of my heart and feelings. I couldn't know that at this very moment, my wish was being considered and would be granted before the sun rise again the next morning.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Review, please. It would mean the world to me to hear from you. I'm open to any helpful advice but no flames, please. I feel I should mention that the details on how Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and the others characters - who survived the war in the books - died later on in the story. So those question about their deaths will be answer soon.


	2. Second Chance

**A/N: **Thanks for those who review the story. I'm glad everyone is interested in the story so far. Everyone probably knows this, but this story is going to be AU. Thanks to cartersdaughter for correcting this chapter.

This chapter has a little bit of religion in it. I will be updating either every 2-4 weeks, depends on how many reviews I get.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say it? I don't own Harry Potter or any of its character

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

**Second Chance**

**Wednesday, May 6, 1998 **

**Midnight**

_Dream_

I opened my eyes and discovered the room I found myself in was a study. I looked around in order to find an exit, and when I did, I went to the only door in the room and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. I kept trying with all my might for a couple more minutes, but finally I gave in and lean heavily against it. I then took the time to observe my surroundings a bit more closely.

While not excessively so, there was a soft and attractive quality to the area. The walls had dark wood paneling; I couldn't place a name for the wood that was used, but it made the room enchanting. The ceiling was painted with a cream color and the carpet was covered in a lovely shade of sky blue. The space was modestly equipped with the basic furniture. A plain, but sophisticated mahogany desk, which was placed in a corner, had a comfortable looking brown chair sitting behind it. On one wall, there was a large, but simple fireplace which was made out of several hues of red bricks; its mantel was adorned with small knickknacks and memorabilia. In front of the fireplace sat two inky, black leather chairs with a small, mahogany table placed in between them and a clear glass-topped coffee table in between the furniture and chimney.

Just then, I heard a creak as the door slid open and twisted around to see the person who was entering the room. There, standing in the room with me was a woman, who looked like she stood about 5'7'' and had an elegant beauty. Her cheek bones stood out, not in an obvious way but more of a subtle way. She had an aristocratic appearance, but it didn't make her seem unkind. No, it had the exact opposite effect; she seemed rather friendly, actually. The woman had flowing dark black hair that hung around her shoulders and ended just at the middle of her back. To put it simply, she looked like an angel from Heaven.

My own eyes sought hers, and when they met, I found myself mesmerized by them. Like an ocean covered with warm rays of the sun, they were deep blue and shimmery. I had seen blue eyes before but none like these. These eyes were the gateway to this woman's soul. Her soul was bare for me to see, and I could see that it was tortured in the past, yet still remained beautiful and pure. I didn't stop to wonder why this beautiful creature standing before me had a pained countenance or what her history was. No, instead I kept on staring at her like an idiot.

The beautiful lady was wearing a lavender floor-length gown that seemed to flow around her and emphasize her frame at the same time. I couldn't tell if she was wearing shoes or not since the dress was so long, but I assumed the pair would be in the same shade and color as her clothes. Her face brighten up at the sight of me and a face-splitting smile rested on her pale, red lips, presenting me with her gleaming white teeth.

"Hello, Harry," she greeted me, kindly. "I'm glad you could finally join me here today. I was beginning to think I would never see you," she said, her voice was gentle as a feather floating in a windy air.

I froze in surprised. "Wait! You've been waiting for me?"

She nodded her head, "Yes, I've been waiting for you, for some time now."

"I'm sorry if I sound rude, but may I asked who are you and where am I?" I asked her, feeling confused at what was going on. "Furthermore, are you human?"

All she did was flashed me a brilliant smile before strolling in the direction of the fireplace; a few seconds later, she pulled back and showed me a roaring fire that filled the grate. I could only stare at her as I inquired, "How'd you do that?" To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. Stunned was a better word to describe what I was feeling at the moment.

"I was able to make that fire with the help of one of my many gifts. As for your question of who I am, you may call me Samantha." Her expression turned serious for the upcoming conversation of why I was here. "Please, sit down, Harry. I have much to talk to you about and little time to do so." Samantha motioned with her hand to one of the leather chairs. I selected the right one and sat down which left the other one for her.

As I sat in the chair, I noticed how comfortable, smooth, and warm it was. I looked up and watched Samantha warily as she too sat down. "You still haven't answered my questions of our location or what you are," I pointed out to her in a matter-of-fact tone.

A slender eyebrow rose in slight amusement, "Well, aren't we a little impatient today? Didn't anyone ever tell you that patience is a virtue, and that good things come to those who wait?" She paused for a moment before continuing, "To answer your questions, we are in your mind. And no, I'm not human but an angel sent by God. God sent me to you to grant you something that you no longer have but deeply want. To do that, you need to listen to me and not interrupt, okay?"

"Alright," I agreed, curious now as to what she was going to say. I didn't know why I was here talking to an angel. All I knew was that she had a warm, friendly personality that made me comfortable and relaxed. When I first appeared here, I was scared and cautious. It didn't help to have a stranger knowing my name either. Her soothing words kept me calm, though.

"Well," she started, sounding a little hesitant at first. "Both God and I have been watching you ever since you were born. We watched you as you grew from a cute, adorable baby into a fine, handsome, young man. We saw you in your good times and in your darkest times. And that is why I'm here. Because at this moment of your life, you're at one of your darkest points, and I'm here to help you," she paused for a moment and then continued as I shot her a befuddled look. "Your suffering has always been a problem. It didn't start that night of the Final Battle at Hogwarts; the sorrow began the night of the Third task when Voldemort returned to his body. I'm here to make sure we put a stop to it. In order to do that, I'm going to grant you your wish of having your family back. Usually, I wouldn't get involve in a matter like this. I would simply watch as you live your life and not interfered with events, allowing them to occur like they are supposed to. However, I never dreamed of how badly your family's deaths would affect you. Do you remember that day you were in the graveyard? Do you remember wishing for your family to come back as night was falling?" Samantha inquired.

My mouth went dry suddenly as I nodded slowly. Nervousness and curiosity showed clearly in my voice, "Yes, I remember. Quite well, in fact. Since it happened several hours ago."

"Excellent. Now, if circumstances were different, I wouldn't do anything to change events. All over the world folks lose loved ones every day and every one of them wish for them to come back; nevertheless, your situation is entirely different than everyone else's. You see, Harry, your loved ones perished before their time. Even Dumbledore, as old as he was, wasn't supposed to go. Please let me finish what I'm trying to say, Harry, before you ask any questions," Samantha murmured as my mouth opened to say something, "I know it's common for families of young members to say that their loved ones has left Earth before their time. But as I said earlier, this is completely different than others. This type of situation rarely happens; the last time it did was around 800 years ago, and I assisted that person too."

"Let me get this straight. You're an angel sent by God, and you're saying my family is going to come back to me?" I questioned, forgetting the promise I made earlier about not interrupting.

Samantha plucked a strand of her dark hair from off of her right shoulder and twirled it around her finger as she replied, "Yes, for the first part. No, for the second; your family can't, but you can."

My gazed met hers, feeling even more perplexed than before. "I don't understand. Can you please tell me what you mean by they can't, but I can?"

For some unknown reason, Samantha seemed quite happy by my bewildered state. "What I'm trying to say is that you're going to be sent into the past. I believed the precise time will be the night of the Third Task in your Fourth year, which means you're redoing that particular event as well as many others after that one," she smiled, satisfied with herself.

"Wait a minute! You're telling me that all I have to do to get my family back is to be sent back in time to my Fourth year, correct? You can really do that?" I asked stunned, amazement appearing in my eyes and voice.

"Indeed, I can," Samantha simply stated. "But you don't have to worry, Harry, because I'm not letting you leave without a few gifts to help you along the way."

I sent Samantha a nervous look when I heard the word, 'gifts.' I so did not want to have another ability that was considered dark nor did I want what happened in my Second year to happen all over again. "Gifts? What kind of gifts would that be?"

Samantha explained to me, "You don't have to be afraid, Harry. I'm not going to give you any gift that is considered dark. Not like what Thomas Marvolo Riddle did when he tried to attack you on that Halloween night." She shook her head, "No, what I'm going to give you are abilities you don't currently have or have but you need them enhanced so you're capable of using them. The same applies with knowledge that I will be providing for you."

I shifted in my chair, still feeling a little anxious, even after Samantha clarified that the gifts I already have or will have were in no way dark. Yes, possibly having a dark ability was part of my worry but not all of it. I worried about what abilities and knowledge I would have or had already. I worried about how the Wizarding world would react when they found out that I had some abilities most didn't. Immediately, questions began to pop up. Would they treat me as the famous person I already was? Would they treat me as an outcast? Would they do anything and everything to soil my name with crimes I did not commit?

Suddenly, I dreaded the thought of the gifts that were unknown to me. I'd been through so much. I had seen more than the average overage witch or wizard has seen in their average life, and I felt tired and drained of energy. So tired, I didn't think I could handle another surprise in my life without having a heart attack.

Samantha gave me another bright smile, which surprisely calmed my nerves. "Okay, let's start. I'm going to give you two new abilities and help you with three others that you already have. Also, I will give you as much knowledge as I can on all abilities as we go on, but some of the powers you will need to look up yourself. Does that sound alright with you?"

I nodded my head in agreement as I rested my right arm against the arm of the chair.

Samantha folded her hands on top of the other and placed them in her lap. "Good," she began, her eyes glowing in happiness. "First, I'm going to help you with an ability you already have, you just need it enhanced more. You will be a Metamorphagus; you have already showed that you had the ability when your hair kept growing back after your aunt continued to give you those horrible haircuts. The understanding of how to change your appearance will be in your mind when you wake up. You won't be 100% perfect at it, and it will take some time to get a hang of it. I should also let you know that when you're feeling some strong emotions; you will change unconsciously so be aware of that in front of strangers and enemies. I can't think of anything else I need to inform you on the subject so let's move on."

Samantha raised her hand, palm facing me and waved it over me. Next thing I knew, I was glowing gold for a minute before returning to normal. If I hadn't seen the gold, I wouldn't have thought anything had happened because I didn't feel any different. Just the same old me.

She dropped her hand and continued, "Your second gift I'm going to help you out with is Occlumency. You have a natural ability, you just didn't know how to use it. No one thought to give you that much-needed information that was required to help you protect yourself from mind attacks and visions. You will find books on both Metamorphagus and Occlumency in your school trunk, but you will have to find out more on Occlumency since I'm only going to give you the basics. Metamorphagus you don't have to worry about since the ability is very rare and there's not a whole lot of information out in the Wizarding world to help you."

Samantha once again waved her hand over me, and I glowed again. But this time, I was encased in a different color with a warm feeling spreading quickly throughout my body. I glowed white instead of gold and returned to normal a minute later.

"Finally, I'm going to help you with your healing ability. Yes, Harry, healing," Samantha repeated at my startled look. "Haven't you ever wonder why you could heal so quickly as a child? A broken arm one day and the next it's fixed like you never broke it before. You should know that part of that was due to you being a wizard, however, you also had an ability as well. Before you could only heal minor injuries and illnesses but now I'm going to upgrade you to major. And you can certainly expand more with continuous learning. Now, you won't be a Healer instantly and you will be receiving a book or two on the subject. However, you will still have to look up more information as well as take healing classes so you don't cause unnecessary damage like Lockhart did in your Second year," Samantha ended with a snort and a roll of her eyes.

I nodded my head as I followed along with Samantha's words. I was getting excited more and more as each gift was revealed to me. So far, none of the abilities were horrible enough to cause the Wizarding world to name me the next Dark Lord. But I couldn't get my hopes up too soon since Samantha had a few more gifts to tell me about.

I glowed blue this time, which again lasted for a minute.

"The last three things I'm going to help you with are: Wandless Magic and Animagus training," Samantha stopped there.

I waited a minute for her to continue, but she never did; only kept looking at me. I then decided to break the silence that surrounded us. "Samantha, that's only two things. You said that you were going to help me with three," I reminded her.

"Very good, Harry," she praised me. "You're indeed correct. The third is not really an ability you have or have knowledge on the subject, which is why I left it out for the time being. The third is to use magic without the Ministry's knowledge. You have the Trace on you up until you turn seventeen which is Wizarding Law. However, we can't allow Fudge and his followers to know your secrets, which they will if we keep the Trace on you. So, when you wake up, the Trace should be gone, and you will be able to use magic without getting in trouble. Please, don't abuse this, Harry."

"I won't," I promised again.

Once again color surrounded me, but this time it was slightly different. For one thing, the color was red instead of gold, white, and blue like I had seen earlier. Another thing that was different was the length of time I was surrounded. Instead of glowing for a minute like I did after I received the first three gifts, I only glowed for a second.

"Now for your Wandless ability. Before you panic, Harry," she said, seeing me beginning to panic, "I'm not going to make you all powerful with this ability. However, you'll be able to do First through Fourth year spells. I want you to train hard in this branch of magic; the more you train on your own, the more adept and powerful you will be in this subject."

"Finally, I'm going to give you the gift of being an Animagus. Now, don't get your hopes up, Harry; you won't be able to transform right away," Samantha gently scolded me after seeing the hopeful expression on my face. "The information you will need to help you in this ability will be with you when you wake up. However, I should warn you, Harry. You will need to get a book and a teacher, who is an expert on the subject, to help you through the transformation and any questions you may have.

"_Do_ _not_ – I repeat- _Do_ _not attempt to transform into an_ _animal form unless you're with an instructor that has the knowledge on this subject! Promise me, Harry! Because trying to become an Animagus is very dangerous and can cause a lot of problems for you if you're not supervised by an experienced person!_" Samantha stated in such a firm, stern voice that it reminded me of Professor McGonagall.

"I promised I won't try to transform unless I'm being supervised by someone who has the knowledge of the subject," I vowed to her. Samantha beamed before waving her hand one final time. Red did not show up this time. Instead, I turned white and then blue for a few seconds before turning back to normal.

Suddenly, Samantha tilted her head slightly, seemingly waiting to hear something that I obviously couldn't.

She waited and listened for a few seconds before facing me again. "I'm afraid that it's time for you to leave, Harry," she announced sadly. "I had hoped to have more time with you, but I guess not."

She rose to her feet elegantly and gestured for me to stand too. "All you have to do in order to leave is to walk through that door, and you'll wake up," she pointed to the only door in the room. "Instead of waking up at your previous destination, you will be waking up in the graveyard on the night of the Third Task in your Fourth year at Hogwarts, understand?" Samantha asked.

"Yes," I murmured. I did understand, and that was the honest-to-God truth. I started to make my way to the door with Samantha following right behind me.

"Oh, Harry," she called. I stopped in my tracks and turned to her. "I'm sorry to say this, but when you wake up; you won't remember this conversation we had. You will only remember my name, the new information I gave you, and the gifts."

"Why?" I questioned, confused.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know why it happens, Harry; just that it does. I have tried over the years to find a solution to that problem but haven't had any luck so far."

I nodded my head to show her I acknowledged her words, before I continued to walk to the door. Just as I reached the door, I spun around to face her for the final time. "Thank you for all the help and the abilities you've given me. And thank you for giving me a second chance at having a family the way I always wanted," I spoke quietly, but sincerely.

I was taken by surprised when Samantha pulled me into a strong, but gentle hug that reminded me of the ones that I got from Mrs. Weasley. "I wished you good luck, Harry. I hope you succeed in saving your family and friends. Before I forget, you only have one chance to change things; I'm sorry to say that I can't give you another one," she smiled apologetically.

"I understand," I replied honestly. "Thanks, Samantha." Then I twisted back around to the door. I reached for the handle and slowly turned it, opened it. When I had the door opened fully, I became blinded by a flash of bright yellow light. And once I step through the door, I experience the sensation of taking a portkey.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Anyway, I don't know if I have to mention this, but Harry may look and sound like a crybaby in this chapter. After reading the chapter several times, I went back and changed a few things, so I don't think he will sound like one. But if he does sound like a crybaby, Harry has a good reason. He's scared because he doesn't want Cedric to die like last time and wants to get out of the graveyard in one piece.

Note: I took a few speeches and lines from _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,_ so please don't sue me. I credit those lines to J.K Rowling; they are not mine. Also, this story will update every 2-4 weeks. Thanks to my beta, cartersdaughter for working extremely hard on this very long chapter. I probably drove her crazy with all of the errors.

I don't own Harry Potter or else I would have made Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Dobby, Dumbledore, Fred, and anyone else - who was on the light side and died in the war - live.


	3. Little Hangleton Graveyard

A/N: Anyway, I don't know if I have to mention this, but Harry may look and sound like a crybaby in this chapter. After reading the chapter several times, I went back and changed a few things, so I don't think he will sound like one. But if he does sound like a crybaby, Harry has a good reason. He's scared because he doesn't want Cedric to die like last time and wants to get out of the graveyard in one piece.

Note: I took a few speeches and lines from _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,_ so please don't sue me. I credit those lines to J.K Rowling; they are not mine. Also, this story will update every 2-4 weeks. Thanks to my beta, cartersdaughter for working extremely hard on this very long chapter. I probably drove her crazy with all of the errors.

I don't own Harry Potter or else I would have made Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Dobby, Dumbledore, Fred, and anyone else - who was on the light side and died in the war - live.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

**Little Hangleton Graveyard**

**Saturday, June 24****th****, 1995**

**8:35 pm**

I felt like I was hovering over endless darkness, but it didn't hurt or attack me at all. Darkness was covering my eyes, and no matter how much I tried, I could not open them. Was this death? If it was, then it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Wasn't I supposed to feel pain if I was dying? Wasn't I supposed to see a bright light then find myself in the arms of my long dead parents?

Wind rushed in my ears, making a loud roaring sound. My body felt as if I was falling through the air like the time I fell off my broomstick in my third year. Or the time where I was falling in the Ministry, trying to save the Prophecy from both Voldemort and Death Eaters in my fifth year.

Suddenly everything stopped. I wasn't certain if I had hit the floor or something as equally hard. I tried once again to open my eyes but failed again. I was too tired to move. Unexpectedly, I heard a voice whispering to me. The voice may have been close, but the words were too far away, so I couldn't catch what was being said. It was like an echo or something.

"Harry…Harry!" A voice called. I tried to recall if I was familiar with that voice in my still fuzzy brain. After trying for a few minutes, I gave up because I didn't recognize it as any of my friends, family, or Professors' voices.

"Harry…you need..." ordered what sounded to me like a male voice. All of a sudden, I could feel hands on me, and a smile graced my lips. Could the male voice possibly be my father? Just then I could picture my father, shaking me awake, anxious to see me after nearly seventeen years apart. James, my father, I was told by many that I looked similar to him, save for my eyes. They were my mother's eyes. If I could just see them now…I'd be…

"HARRY! COME ON, WAKE UP NOW!" screamed a now familiar voice, a voice I'd known since The Quidditch World Cup.

Cedric!

My eyes snapped open. Immediately, a face came into view. At first, I could only see the blurry lines of a face peering down at me, but I didn't need to see clearly to know who the figure was. As my vision began to clear, I could see that Cedric was shrieking out my name, not my father as I clearly thought. Cedric was leaning over my form and was looking worriedly down at me.

As I sat up slowly so I could clear the dizziness that was in my head, I felt a sharp, hot pain shoot across the scar on my forehead, and I slapped my hand over it. I pulled it back a minute later to realize that I was bleeding, for there was blood on my fingers.

"Ouch!"

"What is it?" Cedric asked, becoming more anxious at the sight of the blood on my hand. "Harry, why is your scar bleeding!?" My scar was still stinging with fierce agony making me pant for breath, and I couldn't help but notice Cedric was nervously tracking my every movement.

What had happened? What was Cedric doing here? Wasn't he dead? Unless…unless I was taken back to the past! The dim lights around me were not like the bright lights in the castle, so where were we?

"Cedric, where's Voldemort?" Cedric made a kind of choking noise at the name, but I simply ignored it. "Where are the Death Eaters?" I murmured. Cedric shot me a strange look; a look that I deciphered. Cedric thinking I was going mad when really, I was just confused about the whole situation.

"Harry…no one is here, just us two," Cedric said. I shook my head to clear the last bit of dizziness away before I tried to push myself to my feet. Then, I took a good glance at my surroundings, and my blood ran cold at what I saw. We were in a graveyard, and as I continued to glaze around, all I could see were familiar looking headstones. I didn't need to look around to know that Cedric and I were completely alone in this very dark, very large graveyard.

No one was here except Cedric and me. I didn't need to keep looking to figure out what was going on or where we were; for I knew and I didn't like the very uneasy feeling one tiny bit.

Since I already knew where we were, I thought of a different question. "What happened?" I questioned in a whisper.

"I don't remember exactly what happened. One minute we landed, and the next, you were on the ground. I think you fainted," I heard Cedric say in a concerned voice.

"Abruptly, you started shaking, like you were hit with a Cruciatus Curse or something," Cedric continued his eyes wide. I didn't say anything back. A part of me understood what was going on, but another part still wasn't able to catch up to the fact that Cedric was alive, or the fact we were in a graveyard. The one I identified as the very same one where I was tortured in and saw Voldemort come back to life.

But how did this happen? The last thing I remembered was walking away from the cemetery in Godric's Hollow and going to bed that evening in a broken down hotel room, crying myself to sleep. Yet, here I was…standing on the edge of a graveyard - which I had no doubt about - was the one in Little Hangleton.

I peered up at Cedric and hesitantly inquired, "What's today date?" Cedric raised one of his eyebrows in question while the other was furrow. A deep frown appeared on his face along with a thoughtful expression. I assumed Cedric was thinking about why I was asking such an odd question at a time like this. Nevertheless, I still received my answer even when Cedric kept his weird look on his face.

"June 24, 1995. Harry, are you alright? Did you hit your head when you fainted?" I stopped listening after I heard the date.

Pain shot straight into my chest, not the physical kind but the emotional; my body began to shake. This was the day that Cedric died!

I walked in a small circle as I thought over what was happening_. Was I sent into the past? _I thought. _I remembered before I left the cemetery that I wished I could save everyone who died for me. Because….because I would have to die anyway, so why risk more lives than absolutely necessary?_

I froze in shock; I tried to move my feet, but they felt like they were stuck in concrete. Little black spots were appearing in my vision, causing me to be confused as to why. I found a second later when dizziness was coming over me. I let go of the breath I was unknowingly hold, and I inhaled and exhaled deeply after that. I was starting to sweat, my heart pounding like a speeding train, my eyes wide, and my hands shaking violently.

_I indeed _had_ been sent back, _I thought suddenly._ Sent back to save Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore and the rest of my friends and family, to fulfill my destiny by destroying the Horcruxes and killing Voldemort before he could tear the Wizarding World apart again!_

I shut my eyes and made a silent vow. _No one, and I repeat, no one would die for me! Not Cedric, not Sirius, not Dumbledore, not Remus, no one! If someone had to die, it would be me! It would be me protecting them; I would not allow anyone to protect me like a scared, little child anymore. I might be fourteen again, but I had the mind of a seventeen-year-old; the knowledge I had would be put to the test, to save those I loved from this dark, gruesome war that we were in. Correction, the war we were about to enter into, since the fighting started after tonight's events._

"Harry?" I heard Cedric utter my name. I looked up and saw apprehension, nervousness, and terror showing strongly on his pale face. I understood why he was feeling those specific emotions, but I focused more on the horror than the others. Cedric was feeling fear at the moment because the air around us was growing heavier, thicker, and tenser with every second that passed. Furthermore, our human instincts were warning us something was very wrong, and danger was approaching. Cedric was correct on that account. Peril was coming, and we needed to get out of the graveyard now, or we would soon meet the Dark Lord and his followers.

I turned to face Cedric with a small smile that quickly became a wince. My scar was still stinging something fierce, alerting me to the fact that Voldemort and I were still connected together.

"I'm fine, just shaken from the fall," I replied to Cedric's earlier unspoken question. Quickly, I began to search the rough, hard ground for the Portkey cup. I had to get Cedric and I out of here, without one of us getting killed like what had happened in the original timeline.

My hunt for the cup stopped as I was suddenly hit with memories of that night, or more precisely, this night. My breath came in short, shallow gasps as my head spun.

_Wormtail carrying a baby-like creature of what would soon become Lord Voldemort, Wormtail being commanded to kill Cedric; Wormtail cutting off his hand so that Voldemort could be reborn; Voldemort rising from the cauldron and calling his followers, Death Eaters. Voldemort and I exchanging words, Dead Eaters coming and Wormtail rewarded for helping Voldemort return back into power, more words exchanging between Voldemort and I before an intense dualing breaks out._

Unknowing at the time, Cedric stood in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. "Harry? Are you okay?" I shook my head to get rid of those horrible memories. I couldn't afford to think such thoughts of that dark night. I had to focus on the present and the task of getting us both out of here, preferably in one piece.

"We'd better get out of here. I don't know about you, but my gut tells me that danger is coming, and it's heading our way," I stated in a false calm voice as I pulled my wand from my school robes. It appears to be a difficult task at the moment because my hands were shaking violently, and I couldn't quite gasp the wand. When I did manage to grabbed the wand, my next difficult task was pulling it out of my pocket and trying to stop shanking, both hands and wand.

I lit it with a quick _Lumos_ and Cedric followed suit with his own. Together, we continued our quest for the cup, praying with our whole hearts that we would find it in time. We were only seconds away from finding the cup when a crack of Apparition caught my attention. Standing in our way, was one Death Eater by the name of Peter Pettigrew, who had a creepy but frightening appearance on his light, rat-looking face. The expression was a look of glee. Normally not something to be scared about, but when it's on a Death Eater's face, you have enough reason to be. In Peter's arms was what appeared as a baby…or was it merely a bundle of robes?

However, I had lived this night before, so I knew that what Peter was holding was an ugly, baby Voldemort, not a bundle of robes.

Cedric looked baffled at the bundle in the Death Eater's arms, but the expression quickly changed to a protective one. Cedric pulled me closer to him while both of us pointed our wands at Wormtail, warily watching his every move wary.

As we stared at Wormtail's face, it twisted into a wide, crazed smile. "_Expelliarmus_!" He bellowed, moving his wand so it was pointing at us. Our wands went flying into his hand, and Wormtail then shouted, "_Incarcerous_!" Both Cedric and I fell to the ground, ropes covering us tightly.

I had a sudden feeling of déja vu, and I knew what was coming from what happened in the past, in my original timeline, where Cedric was killed by Wormtail. Wormtail pointed his wand at Cedric again. I looked at Cedric in horror.

_Had the time come for Cedric to die?_ I thought in horror._ He couldn't die, not yet! Not after I had just made a promise to myself that no one was going to die for me! Not after I had gotten a second chance to change the future, to a brighter and lighter one rather than the dark and evil one I knew._

I took a glimpse at the man t my parent's, Sirius, and Remus trusted once with their lives, the man that was once a great friend with my parents and their friends, the man that owed me a life debt from saving him from death by the hands of both Sirius and Remus. "YOU!" I gasped.

Wormtail smiled sinisterly. "ME!" he spoke proudly.

Cedric glanced between Wormtail and me before turning his attention back to Wormtail. "You know each other?" Cedric asked the two of us.

I turned my head slightly, so that I could see Cedric but kept my eyes on Wormtail also. "Sadly, yes, we know each other. Wormtail here used to be best friends with my parents, but he betrayed them." I saw that Cedric was opening his mouth to ask a question, but I shot him a look, telling him that this was not the time to ask questions. So he closed it and kept watching Peter.

I turned my full attention back on Wormtail again. "So after I saved YOUR neck from being killed, this is how YOU repay me? YOU owe me a life debt, and this is what YOU do?"

"Ah, so I do, Harry," he agreed. "But you should know by now that I will always go back to my Master."

"What?" Cedric yelled, horrified. "Harry, tell me what's going on?" He began to struggle, but the spell held him still.

"I'll tell you exactly what's going on. I'm here to bring my Master back to his rightful place in power and to kill you," Wormtail murmured. Cedric froze in shock at what Wormtail uttered. As for me, I knew what would happen already, so I wasn't caught off guard like Cedric was.

"You fucker!" Cedric cried in terror; then he turned to me. "Harry, you have got to get out of here! Escape somehow, do anything you can to get away from this place!" I felt a pang in my heart. _Cedric was more concerned about my safety in this dire situation than himself; it was just like him to put me first._ _Like he did the last time in the original timeline, I thought sadly._

And even though I was brought back to the past, that didn't mean that it had changed my feelings, for I was still terrified for the older boy. I'd dragged Cedric here dragged a person I'd considered a brother, a friend; to somewhere where he could be killed. He had to escape too! I could care less as to what would happen to my own spirit and body. All I cared about was that Cedric arrived at Hogwarts, safe and alive.

Cedric didn't know anything about the Prophecy and wasn't involved in it. He was just an innocent, young man who became the first victim of the Second War. He was caught in something he shouldn't have been. He was just in the wrong time and place.

"Cedric, I'm so sorry!" I apologized, pleading with him to forgive me for leading him into this mess. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"It's not your fault, mate! It's this madman! I knew you didn't put your name in that goblet; that someone else had!" Pain once again erupted in my scar, and I blurrily looked around. I spotted people coming from behind the headstones.

"No more talking," said a high, cold voice. "Remove the spell from the boys, Wormtail, and then I want you to levitate young Potter. Rookwood, you levitate Diggory."

Wormtail immediately took the spell off of us, and at once, we tried to run for it. However, Rookwood and Wormtail were too fast for us. Wormtail levitated me as instructed, and Rookwood did the same with Cedric. I screamed as wave after wave of pain sliced through my scar. Agony coursed through me as the pain grew more intense with every second that passed by. My heart was pounding like a fast drum, and I tried in vain to escape the levitation spell. _I had to get to Cedric! I just had to! My big brother couldn't die tonight!_ I thought in desperation.

I was dropped roughly down on a gravestone, and with another spell from Wormtail, more rope tied me to the stone. I tried to move my limbs, but I couldn't with how tight I was bind. I tried with my body but received the same results. I took a brief peek at Cedric with trepidation showing strongly on my face and saw the same emotion on his. A tall black cauldron was standing a few feet away from us, and as we peered around, one of the Death Eaters removed his mask. Standing in front of us was Theodore Nott.

"Wormtail, put me in the cauldron at once," the high, icy voice demanded.

Wormtail willingly put what seemed like a deformed baby into the bubbling cauldron. _Please, let it drown!_ I thought as the cauldron frothed and boiled; my scar burning almost past endurance. _Please…let it drown…_

Peter raised his wand, speaking in a terror-stricken voice to the night, "Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"

The grave at my feet cracked. Cedric let out a horrified gasp as dust rose into the air and dropped slowly into the cauldron. I kept quiet with no expression on my face. The potion bubbled again, even more so than before.

Wormtail's face suddenly grew even more terrified. He stammered, "F-flesh of the s-servant ... willingly given ... you will revive your master."

Cedric let out a shriek of unadulterated fright and revulsion as the man cut off his own hand with a dagger, and it plopped into the cauldron with the other things Wormtail had already put in. I just turned my head, unwilling to see the disgusting act once more. Peter fell to the ground, screeching in agony. Cedric and I both glanced at each other, and it appeared to me like Cedric was trying with all of his might to hold in his dinner.

"Get off the ground, Wormtail!" I heard a familiar voice ordered. My blood went cold when I heard it. That voice belongs to none other than Lucius Malfroy. "Shut up, you blubbering fool!" Slowly, Wormtail got off the ground. He suddenly removed a vial from his robes as he walked over to me.

"No!" Cedric roared, anger the main emotion on his face, "No, you son of a bitch, you won't hurt, Harry!" He struggled futilely in his bonds, trying somehow to get to my side. We both knew that he never would, so maybe that's why he stopped struggling after a few minutes; he knew that it would only make him tired and wouldn't help us in escape the situation. Either way, I tried my best to give him some form of comfort in these dire conditions.

"It's no use, Cedric!" I shouted back as Wormtail held the dagger to my arm and cut it open, causing bright, red blood to pour out and into the vial. I cried out in anguish, not even trying to hide the anguish that I was feeling at the moment. I knew it was painful last time, but I didn't remember it was _this _painful?

"B-blood of the enemy ... forcibly taken ... you will… resurrect your foe!" Peter intoned. He emptied the vial into the cauldron. I could do nothing to prevent it; I was tied to tightly…

"Oh my God, Harry, are you alright?" Cedric inquired his hazel eyes wide as he watched more and more blood slowly drip down from my arm. "I'm f-fine, Cedric," I stuttered out as an answer. The pain in my arm as well as the one in my scar was blinding me so much I could hardly see.

The liquid in the cauldron turned a blinding white, and sparks flew in all directions. Both Cedric and I had hoped with all our hearts that somehow the ritual had gone horribly wrong. Nothing happened…

_Let it have drowned,_ I thought, desperately, _Let it have gone wrong…_

However, I knew deep inside that no matter how much I wished for Voldemort to drown, my wish would never come true. It didn't come true the last time we were in the graveyard, so why would it now?

Immediately, the sparks from the cauldron were extinguished, and Cedric and I could see a dark outline of a man rising slowly from inside it. Panic flooded me; I knew it was Lord Voldemort, returning to the full power he once had all those years ago. And with my unwilling help!

I felt terrible that night after I had come back from the surprise of seeing Voldemort reborn again. That same feeling came again but more intense; there were just no words to describe how awful and horrified I felt just then.

"Robe me," spoke the high, frosty voice of Lord Voldemort. Wormtail, sobbing and moaning, still cradling his mutilated arm, scrambled to pick up the black robes from the ground, got to his feet, reached up, and pulled them on over his master's head.

The thin man stepped out of the cauldron, staring at me…and I stared back into the face that had haunted my nightmares for years. Whiter than a skull, with wide, livid scarlet eyes and a nose that was flat as a snake's with slits for nostrils…

"M-my Lo-lord!" Wormtail exclaimed in wonder as he touched Voldemort's hand. "My Lord, y-you have R-returned!" The sinister but frightening smile on Wormtail face was extremely bright.

"Yes, I have Wormtail. Yes, I have, and I am extremely honored to have these two _wonderful_ guests at my rebirth party," Voldemort stated, smiling with a mouth that was wide and lipless. I could hear my heart in my ears, and I could only guess Cedric's was doing the same.

Wormtail then fell to the ground to worship his re-born master by kissing his feet and robes. Voldemort pulled out his wand from a deep pocket inside his robe and raised it, and pointed it at Wormtail, who was lifted off the ground and thrown against the headstone where I was tied; he fell to the foot of it and lay there, crumpled up and crying.

Wormtail's robes were shining with blood now; he had wrapped the stump of his arm in them. "My Lord…" Wormtail choked, "my Lord…you promised…you did promise…" But Voldemort just simply ignored him. After a minute or so, Voldemort gazed down at me, a cruel smile twisting his snakelike face.

"You are standing, Harry Potter," he hissed softly, "on the headstone of my ancestor, my filthy Muggle father, the pathetic father who didn't want me, who abandoned me. My mother, being the sentimental fool that she was, gave me his deplorable name. Tom Riddle," Voldemort laughed. Up and down he paced, glancing all around him as he walked.

"I'll tell you what's deplorable," yelled Cedric with every fiber of bravery he could possibly possess. "What you're doing is! Dragging Harry here to hurt him, how dare you?!"

Out of nowhere, Voldemort pointed his wand at Cedric. "I've heard all about how you've protected Potter this year," he sneered. "_Crucio_!"

"NO!" I roared out, my throat hurting from all the screaming I'd done as I was forced to listen to Cedric's screeching.

The few masked figures, who were there cackled tauntingly. "How do you feel now, Boy-Who-Lived?" one of the Death Eaters said in a mocking voice.

"Please, stop it, please! Please, I'm begging you. Stop it," I begged, tears coming to my eyes. I willed them away angrily; I didn't want Voldemort to gain any satisfaction from seeing them. After all, I was told from Uncle Vernon that crying was considered a weakness, and I was already vulnerable as it was. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Voldemort lifted the curse. Cedric lay gasping on the gravestone, sweat pouring like a slow river down his agonized, ashen face.

"You see now, don't you, Diggory?" Voldemort questioned in a low voice. "You see now why you shouldn't insult Lord Voldemort, for he will reap his vengeance upon you!"

Cedric kept silent; he was still recovering from being put under one of the Unforgivable curses. I saw that he was still panting, making it hard to speak; however, he did manage to glare at the Dark Lord with utter hatred and fury etched firmly across his face.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Voldemort jeered then sent a dark glare Cedric's way, "my mother died giving birth to me. She only lived long enough to name me after my filthy Muggle father. Tom was after my father, Marvolo was after my grandfather. Then I was brought to a disgusting orphanage, where I was ridiculed by filthy Muggles. But when I came to Hogwarts, I soon discovered my power and ancestry. Imagine my happiness when I found out that I am the heir of one of the most powerful wizards in the world, Salazar Slytherin!"

He let out an evil laugh so loud I have been surprised if France heard it. The crackle sent unwelcome shivers down Cedric's and my back. Voldemort walked lazily over to stand next to me, so that the eyes of the Death Eaters were upon the two of us. Everyone ignored Cedric as he started to struggle again with the ropes that bound him to the gravestone.

Voldemort went on to explain about his ascension to power, and then how he had fallen back in 1981 when my mother sacrificed her life for me.

"You know, of course, that they called this boy, my downfall? You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him- and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen. I sadly could not touch the boy." Voldemort raised one of his long, white fingers and put it very close to my cheek.

"His mother left upon him the traces of her sacrifice. This is old magic; I should have remembered it. I was absurd to overlook it…but no matter. I can touch him now." I felt the cold tip of the long, pale finger gently stroking my forehead, and I thought my head would burst with the abrupt, intense pain. I quickly realized that with my mother's blood in Voldemort, I was no longer protected from harm. I was not protected from the pain Voldemort's touch sent to my scar, nor was I protected from physical, mental, or emotional harm. All of my mother's sacrifices were in vain now.

He then talked about his time in exile in Albania, until Wormtail had freed himself from his little problem and had gone to find Voldemort. On the way, Wormtail had captured Bertha Jorkins, who had some very valuable information about the Triwizard Tournament. Crouch Sr. had put a memory charm on her so that she wouldn't reveal certain facts about the tournament which she'd overheard by accident. Unfortunately, the forcible removal of the charm had broken Bertha, and in Voldemort's words, she was, "no longer useful," so he disposed of her.

Cedric and I were appalled by the callous way these people treated human life. Voldemort explained how Crouch Jr. had tried to help me so that I'd win the tournament.

"As it turned out," Voldemort murmured quietly after his long-winded explanation, "Crouch Jr. didn't need to do much helping. Young Diggory, here was very willing to assist young Potter, were you not, Diggory?"

"You evil bastard!" Cedric hollered. "Over my dead body would I ever lead Harry to you, and you know it!" Cedric then turned his head in my direction. "Harry, I'm really sorry! I didn't mean for this to ever happen to you!" he exclaimed with panic and terror coloring his voice, and his eyes pleading for me to understand.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, Cedric, I promise," I tried to reassure him, but I didn't think it did any good. Cedric was looking at me with a very sad, apologetic expression on his face.

"Awww! How touching," jeered another Death Eater. "Look at the way the little friends talk to each other; so disgusting. Are you guys together or something?"

"You can try all you want and do anything you want, to try and make yourself feel better about this, Diggory," Voldemort sneered. "However, the point of the matter is that you unknowingly and probably unwilling placed the Golden Boy of the Wizarding World right into my hands." I turned in Cedric's direction so I could try to reassure him it wasn't his fault; he didn't know what was going to happen. But I was too late because I could already see the look of horror on his face. His grey eyes were as wide as saucers, his face pale white, and his mouth wide open in a silent scream.

Suddenly, I heard a quiet noise which forces me to turn away from Cedric and figured out where it was coming from. The noise was so soft I could barely hear it. Cedric, the Death Eaters, and I tried to find where the source of the noise was coming from, but we couldn't find it. However, Voldemort must have known for the next statement was towards one of his Death Eathers. "Wormtail, hold out your arm," Voldemort commanded his weak servant; the one who was currently making the soft noise.

"Oh Master…thank you…gracious Master! Thank you!" Wormtail extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort just laughed again. "The other arm, Wormtail," He snarled. "My Lord…"Wormtail choked, "my Lord…you promised…you did promise…Master please…_please_…"

I guessed Wormtail knew it was pointless to plead as Lord Voldemort had no mercy for anyone; whether for his loyal followers or not. He stopped talking and just held out the other arm. Even though I already knew what was on his arm, it was still an unexpected surprised for me to see the Dark Mark on Wormtail's left forearm. Cedric and I saw a black skull with a snake protruding from its mouth printed on Wormtail's fair skin, the same Dark Mark that Cedric and I both saw in the sky at the Quidditch World Cup.

Voldemort examined it carefully like a Muggle Doctor would do for a wound, ignoring Wormtail altogether as he wept uncontrollably. Voldemort pressed his finger to the brand tattoo, and the other man let out a cry of pain. While Peter was screaming, I could see the dark black image turned to a vivid red a few seconds after Voldemort touched the brand, making the screeching man scream louder, if possible.

The scar on my forehead seared with more sharp agony. Voldemort had a cruel satisfied expression etched on his snake-like face. Moments later, people that I couldn't recognize at the moment began to Apparating into the graveyard. The wards had obviously been removed.

Voldemort gave another long-winded, but interesting speech to the circle of new arrival Death Eaters, giving the information of his return in detail. He walked around the circle, snarling at them for their failures while he was without his powers. Cedric and I were forced to watch as he put many of them under _Cruciartus curse_, especially Avery. He spoke of two Death Eaters, one who had left him forever and one who was a coward. He said he'd get his revenge on them in due time. He also talked about another Death Eater who remained his most faithful servant, and who has already reentered his service.

Voldemort looked down at the sill bawling Wormtail. He addressed said man. "You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your friends. You deserve this pain, Wormtail. You know that, don't you?"

"Yes…Master," Wormtail groaned.

"But you helped return me to my body," Voldemort uttered, watching Wormtail still sobbing like a baby on the ground where he fell earlier. "Worthless, weak, and traitorous as you are, you helped me, and Lord Voldemort rewards his followers who helped the Dark Lord…"

Then he asked Peter to hold out his stump of an arm. Cedric and I stared in open-mouthed astonishment as he was given a silver hand to replace the one he had cut off. Wormtail bowed to Voldemort, kissing the hem of his robes and thanking him profusely.

"Harry Potter," Voldemort hissed softly with a disturbing grin curling his lipless mouth as eyes around the circle flashed in my direction. The Dark Lord turned his attention to me. "Our young friend here has kindly joined us for my wonderful rebirth party. One might go so far as to call him my guest of honor."

"Harry Potter," he continued. "How did you escaped, the most powerful wizard this world had seen, that night?"

"Are you crazy? I was just a baby at the time; how would I know something like that at age one?" I inquired, glaring at the awful-looking man. "Doesn't one of your lackeys tell you that sort of information?"

"Now, now, Harry," Voldemort taunted me. "Let's not be rude to the birthday boy. After all, this is my day. That will not do well for either you or your little friend beside you. Yes, Lucius?"

"I know how to make him talk, Master!" Malfoy sneered. The man gazed into Voldemort's eyes, and the two seemed to communicate without words.

"My thoughts exactly, Lucius," Voldemort agreed with whatever Malfoy had thought. "What a clever wizard you are; I knew I made the right choice by having you in my inner circle of Death Eaters," Voldemort praised. "I am giving you one more chance, Potter. HOW DID YOU BEAT ME THAT NIGHT?"

"I ... don't…bloody…hell... know!" I bellowed at the top of my lungs. "I ... don't ... know…fucking ... anything!"

"Very well then, I'm afraid you leave me no choice, Potter. I hate to do this, I really do, but you asked for it," Voldemort spoke in a fake, sad voice. He pointed his wand at Cedric, "_Crucio_!"

So he was going to use _that _method on me to make me talk. "No, stop it!" I howled as Cedric's pain-filled screeches filled the graveyard, along with the insane, evil, demonic laughter of the Death Eaters. When Voldemort removed the curse finally after what felt like an eternity, he taunted me again, "Are you finally going to talk, Potter?"

"Harry…Don't…you…dare…say…anything!" Cedric managed to choke out between gasps for breath. "Fight him, Harry!"

"Cedric, I'm so sorry!" I apologized. "I don't know! I don't know what he's talking about." Then I turned to Voldemort and said, "Please, just hurt me instead, leave Cedric alone! He's not involved in this! This is between you and me, Voldemort!"

"Harry, no!" Cedric begged. "I don't ... want you ... getting hurt ... either! Please Harry…listen to…me!"

"How touching," Voldemort murmured in a sickening, sweet voice. "However, as sickening as this scene is, Potter, your wish is not fulfilled. _Crucio_!" he cast the curse on Cedric again.

Once the round of torture was over, Cedric struggled within his bonds and bellowed, "I don't...care if you...hurt me, but if you...hurt, Harry...you asshole...I'll fight you!" I saw Cedric fighting extremely hard against his ropes; it was causing him to be out of breath.

If possible, Voldemort's smile grew even creepier. It was like the one on Wormtail's, only more snake-like than rat-like. It was a look of absolute glee on an evil person face. "You'll fight me, really?" he inquired quietly. "Maybe I should give you the chance. After all, everyone deserves a chance once in a while." He roughly freed Cedric from the ropes. Cedric quickly struggled to his feet, still panting heavily from the curses he had recently been under.

"Please, don't do this, Cedric! He doesn't want you, he wants me!" I cried out in fear for his life. "He'll kill you!"

Cedric walked over to me and touched my hand. "Harry, if I had to choose to die helping you, or just watching him hurt you; I'd rather go down helping you!" Cedric answered stubbornly. Then he bent down and whispered in my ear so the others could not overhear what is being said. "If I have to die tonight, mate, I rather go down like a fighter than a coward. And don't you dare blame yourself; this wasn't your fault in anyway." While the quiet message was being said, Voldemort and his 'followers' gave us cruel, mocking stares.

I felt tears swarming into my eyes once again. That night in the original timeline, I blamed myself for the death of Cedric despite the fact all of my friends, family, and even Cedric's parents said that it wasn't my fault. I didn't listen because deep down inside I knew that they were wrong, and it was true; that everyone that I knew or was close to would somehow end up dead because of me. That's why I wasn't close to very many people because I knew Voldemort would use my weakness against me by hurting the people I truly care about.

It was because of me that Cedric was here at all! How could he say it was not my fault? And I couldn't just watch him get killed! Was he crazy!? Would he have done the same if he was in my shoes? No, so why would he think I would do the same? I had to do something!

"Don't do this, Cedric, please," I pleaded. "Please don't fight him. He'll kill me anyway; you will just delay it. And I really don't want you to die!"

"Harry, I have to," Cedric stated firmly, trepidation showing clearly in his eyes. I could see that he was terrified of Voldemort but was trying to hide it by cover it up with bravery and standing up to him.

"Listen, Harry, whether you like it or not, I'm going to fight him," Cedric continued. "It's the right thing to do." No matter what I said, I knew I wouldn't be able to get the older boy to budge. Cedric squeezed my hand gently and stood in front of a smirking Voldemort. Wormtail handed Cedric back his wand with a truly awful smile.

"Do your worst, Diggory, I dare you to," Voldemort taunted.

I try struggled in my bonds, but Voldemort just laughed at me. So my options were clear: I would be forced to watch Cedric and Voldemort try to destroy each other, and I wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it or help. I watched in horrified silence as Cedric and Voldemort threw spells at each other. Cedric was doing well, dodging every spell the Dark Lord threw at him, but after minutes of this, the seventeen-year-old was tiring. None of his spells had hit Voldemort, and the older man finally got him with an_ Expelliarmus_.

"Noooo!" I shrieked in fear, knowing what was about to happen as the person I considered a big brother, a friend, and partner was forced to his knees by another spell from the Dark Lord. Cedric tried to get up but the spell held his body in place. The older teen turned his head to me with a pleading expression, and I understood that he was trying to say silently that this situation wasn't my fault either. There was also terror on Cedric's face, and this was perfectly normal, for death was practically staring at him in the face. I felt sick to my stomach at what I knew was going to happen at any moment. Without being able to stop them, more tears entered my eyes. However, this time they ran down my cheeks as I repeated Cedric's name quietly over and over again.

"You're quite a brave boy, Diggory," Voldemort comment softly. "But bravery comes with a price. Any last words?"

I wracked my brain furiously for something, anything that would help me turn this already dire situation around. Out of nowhere, Samantha's voice popped into my mind.

"_The second gift that I'm going to give you is wandless magic. Now, before you panic, I'm not going to make you all powerful in this. However, you'll be able to do basic first through third year spells. I want you to train in this branch of magic and the more you train on your own, the more adept and powerful you will be in this subject."_

Ah! I could use my wandless ability to take Voldemort's wand away. That should give Cedric and me enough time to do something in order to get out of here. With that thought in mind, I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate. I was beginning to get a little panic as time flew by, but I calmed down by telling myself that it wouldn't help Cedric if I was anxious.

As if someone up in the Heavens knew that I desperately needed help, I felt something take over me. The feeling wasn't bad, just very different and weird like. It was like whenever your leg or arm goes to sleep, there would always be a tickling and pricking feeling. It was like that.

Unexpectedly, my wand hand acted of its own accord. I felt my hand rise as much as it could without being stopped by the ropes or noticed by the figures around. I pointed my hand with my palm facing out so that it was aimed at Voldemort. Hoping that no one would see what I was doing or overhear me, I started to utter the words to the a disarming spell I was going to use to stop Voldemort from killing Cedric.

"_Expelliarmus!_" I whispered. Then I saw a spurt of golden fire through my half-closed eyelids, heard some gasps of surprise and a cry of fury. The Death Eaters yelled; Voldemort screamed, "No!"

I glanced down and saw in my right hand the wand Voldemort had just moments ago. Once I saw Voldemort and his 'followers' were distracted for the moment, I hurriedly cast a cutting spell to cut the ropes with my wand and stepped away from the bindings and tombstone. I knew I could have cut or released Cedric with my wandless ability, but I didn't want to tired myself out. Furthermore, I couldn't afford to at the moment.

I then quietly cast a counter curse so Cedric could stand up, all without anyone noticing. I looked back and saw the Dark Lord and his 'Death Eaters' temporary forgot about Cedric and me. They were still distracted with the search of the wand Voldemort had just lost. None of them realized Voldemort still had Cedric wand in his pale hand. None of them heard the disarming spell I had spoken, nor did they follow the direction of where the Dark Lord's wand went.

I guessed Cedric saw what I had done out of the corner of his eye because he looked at the Dark Lord courageously and took a deep breath. "Go to hell," he stated softly. He suddenly jumped up from his kneeling position had and ran to my side. By now, everyone realized what just happened and turned to stare at the two of us. I saw all the Death Eaters raising their wands and fearing for Cedric's life more than mine, quickly pulled Cedric and myself behind a tall headstone.

Seconds later, I heard the stone crack because of the curse Voldemort sent in our direction that missed us and hit the stone. "We are not playing hide-and-seek, boys," Voldemort hissed in a callous voice, drawing nearer, as the Death Eaters cackled. "You cannot hide from me. Does this mean that you would prefer me to finish you off first, Harry? Do you want Diggory to watch you die, so you don't have to watch him suffered the same fate? Come out, Harry…come out and play, then…it will be quick…it might even be painless…I would not know…I have never died…" Voldemort's voice was like a faraway echo, even though we weren't that far from him.

I knew the end had come. Time was running out as Voldemort came closer and closer to where we were hiding. Even though I did not know how to get Cedric and me out of here, there was one thing I did know, and that was to put up a big fight and go down like a fighter rather than a coward like Wormtail. And I couldn't do that by hiding behind a tombstone, waiting for death to come knocking at my door.

Before Voldemort could stick his snakelike face around the headstone, I stood up and stepped out from behind the stone, resisting Cedric's attempts to pull me back.

"Now, now, Harry," Voldemort repeated his words from earlier. Anger filled me, anger at Voldemort, at Malfoy, at Wormtail, at every single Death Eater there. Recklessness overcame me; I almost had to watch my big brother die. Thankfully, I remembered the words Samantha told me as she presented her gifts to me and even luckier, that my wandless ability worked. I guessed someone up there was watching over me. Furiously wiping my tears away, I spat at Voldemort, "Give me a chance to fight too!"

"Ah, I was planning on it," Voldemort spoke quietly. "Do you want to die Harry? Are you giving up?"

"Harry, don't do this," Cedric begged me from behind the tombstone.

I heard some snickers and glanced up. "Yeah, Harry, don't do this. We wouldn't want you to get hurt, or worst, die," Voldemort mocked.

"You know what, Voldemort? You can go straight to hell," I replied furiously. Wormtail exchanged wands between Cedric, Voldemort, and me. All the Death Eaters watched in fascination.

"You do know," Voldemort said, "that if Diggory wasn't with you tonight, he wouldn't have to suffer. You know very well that no matter what he said, it was your entire fault; your fault alone. I had to hurt him because of you. And your parents died because of you. Avada Kedavra!"

But I was more than ready to go. Despite Voldemort's taunts, the anger and hate still churned inside of me. All the pent up feelings I'd felt over the years at the loss of friends and family - thanks to Voldemort and his gang of followers - was finally being released. And for a good caused. "Expelliarmus!" I shouted, knowing that at least I'd go down fighting, like Cedric almost had.

Something very weird happened at the moment when both wands connected. The red and green spells met in midair, and all of a sudden, Voldemort's wand and my wand began to shake. I held on with all my strength, more shock filling me. I didn't even need to glance at Cedric, to know what he thought about all this, I could tell by the sharp intake of breath that he wasn't expecting this to happen. Just like me. As for Voldemort, I couldn't describe his expression on his snake-like face at this sudden turned in events. I had a feeling he was surprised like the rest of us, and unhappy it was happening.

"Do nothing," Voldemort instructed to the Death Eaters, and I saw his red eyes wide with absolute astonishment at what was happening, saw him fighting to break the thread of light still connecting his wand with mine; I held onto my wand more tightly with both hands, and the golden thread remained unbroken. I knew what was happening because the same thing happened the last time in the original timeline, so I wasn't scared. I might me surprised a bit because it caught me off-guard but never frighten. Do you hear me? Do nothing unless I command you!" Voldemort bellowed to the Death Eaters he saw moving toward him.

"Go Harry!" I heard Cedric cheering me on from his spot beside the tombstone. "I know you can do it!"

The Dark Lord and I were suddenly lifted into the air and dropped down on a patch of ground which was free of graves. Then, a beautiful flood of music emanated through the graveyard. I recognized immediately I had heard it before; for it was a phoenix song. I remembered it from two years ago at the confrontation with Tom Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets. It was as though the music was saying: "Don't break the connection, young one, don't break the connection." I silently obeyed the command and held on tighter.

There was a cage of light connecting the two wands, which then became a golden dome. We continued to hold our wands tightly, and the phoenix song continued to echo around us. The cage then broke into beads of light. The phoenix song seemed to tell me in my mind I had to move the beads of light to Voldemort's wand instead of my own.

"You're doing great, little brother," Cedric hollered, his words muffled by the loud noises of the phoenix song and the two spells which were fighting for dominance in the middle of the graveyard. The spells sounded like fireworks as they popped and sizzled or like gunshots and cannons the muggles like to use in battles.

A silver hand shot out of Voldemort's wand, the hand which he had conjured for Wormtail. Then screams echoed from the wand, and I realized it was dredging up every spell the Dark Lord had done in reverse order. Lots of shrieks were heard, from many different Death Eaters, for those were the spells Voldemort had done last.

All of a sudden, a figure began to come out of Voldemort's wand. It seemed to slither out. I recognized her; she had been featured on the front page of the newspaper, _The Daily Prophet_. It was Bertha Jorkins.

"I know you feel like you want to give up, Harry," she uttered, "but please don't. We'll help you escape."

If I remembered correctly from last time, Frank Bryce should be coming out next. And I was right because he appeared next. "Wow, he really was a wizard," he exclaimed, staring at Voldemort. "He murdered me. Fight him, boy!"

"I need to get out of here without anyone seeing me," I whispered to no one in particular. "I need to leave."

I saw a flash of fire out of the corner of my eye and saw Fawkes standing on one of the heads of the gravestones. The phoenix let out a happy encouraging trill. "Fawkes," I stated quietly. "You have already done so much for me, but I need to ask for more. I need your help."

Fawkes let out a soft trill as if to say, "I know what you're planning, and I will wait here for you."

Turning my focus back to the still connecting wands, I knew what was coming next, but it still didn't prepare me for the sight that met my eyes. I was openly weeping now as a beautiful woman with red hair and emerald eyes just like my own came out of Voldemort's wand. This was all too much for me to take. I almost let go of my wand, but held on at the last second.

"My boy," my mother spoke, her voice full of emotion. "My wonderful, beautiful, precious baby boy. Hold on, everything will be all right. Your father's coming, he wants to see you."

Guilt gnawed inside me as I remembered what Voldemort had said before, and I knew it was true. _My parents really had died because of me. Then why were they helping me?_ I thought in confusion.

"My darling, this isn't your fault," she soothed, and I could see tears shining in her own emerald eyes. "Please don't ever think it was. Voldemort is just trying to hurt you."

My father materialized then. "Harry, my son," he greeted, smiling sadly at me. "Your mother and I have very little time, but we need you to do something for us. As soon as we tell you to, break the connection. Then you and Cedric go to the Triwizard Cup and shout, "Portus reverso!" It will turn the cup back into a portkey and take you back to Hogwarts, where it was last. Okay?"

"Mum, Dad, I'm sorry," I sobbed. I tried to form words for an apology but no sound came forth. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry. We love you," my dad said sincerely.

"We love you so very, very much, sweetheart," my mom murmured, tears running freely down her beautiful face. "Always know that, all right?"

"Tell Padfoot we send our love; tell him I don't blame him at all," my father spoke. "And tell Moony, we're sorry about leaving him out that night." I promised my father I'd give them the message.

"Harry, let go," my mother ordered, and I immediately did. Still bawling, Cedric and I shouted, "Portus reverso!" pointing our wands at the portkey.

What happened next, Cedric and I weren't expecting. Voldemort managed to send a spell at me, causing me to become distracted from the portkey. I sent a spell after Voldemort and hurriedly went back to the portkey, so I wouldn't miss it. However, I was too late.

"Are you ready, Harry?" Cedric questioned, without looking up. "One, two, three…" Voldemort let out a loud cry of pure rage as Cedric disappeared without me. Cedric noticed a few seconds too late and wasn't able to stop the portkey from taking him back to Hogwarts. His best option was to get to the Headmaster as fast as he could and get help for me. Even though me being stranded in a graveyard with a serial killer, who wants me dead, was nothing to celebrate about, I was happy Cedric was finally out of danger. I could care less about my own safety at the moment. I felt like doing a little dance right now, but I knew this wasn't the time nor the place to do so. Instead, I pictured myself doing one in my head.

The ghosts gazed at Voldemort and the Death Eaters. "You will not win, Voldemort!" my mother hissed angry as she glared at him.

"He'll definitely get you, you can be sure of that," my father stated in a cocky tone of voice.

While Voldemort and his "followers" were distracted by the ghosts, I quickly ran to Fawkes. Spreading his wings, Fawkes flew up and landed on my shoulder, and then he gently rubbed his head against mine in a reassuring way. I peeked one last time at the graveyard, people, and ghosts before my vision was blinded with flames, forcing me to close my eyes. Warmth surrounded me for a brief moment, and then it was gone along with the weight on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, I saw I was in my dorm room at Hogwarts. I walked over to the window and saw bright lights over at the Quidditch field, telling me the third task was still going on. 'I wonder if Cedric was already back?' I thought absentminded. Fawkes had landed on my bed and appeared to be waiting patiently for me to do what I needed to get done.

I didn't have a full plan; I didn't have time for one. All I knew at the moment was I had to quickly pack my stuff, and I would make up a plan along the way.

* * *

><p>AN: Review, please! You know you want to so do it!


	4. Where Is Harry?

A/N: Thanks guys for the lovely reviews. Thanks to you all, we're getting up there in reviews. I feel I should mention that I took a few sentences out of _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire _and put them in this chapter. I just wanted to let you know in case you see anything that is similar to it in the books. I'm not trying to steal JKR's ideas, just trying to help my story. Nevertheless, I don't own those sentences, so don't sue me.

Note: When I read the fourth book of the Harry Potter Series, I was wondering what everyone's reactions were when they figured out that something wasn't right during the Third Task, especially the Hogwarts Professors. So this chapter is about their reactions and how if would've ended if Cedric made it back while Harry was still in the Graveyard. I also looked up the location of where the Durmstrang school was, and I did not like what I read. I was told that the school was in either in Norway or Sweden. I thought in _HGF _that Drumstang was in Russia but apparently not. So instead of them being in Norway, I'm putting them in Russia. After all, this is an AU story, so I have a right to change a few details around.

Thanks to cartersdaughter for spending her value time on correcting my mistakes.

I don't own Harry Potter nor do I own the rights of the movies.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

**Where Is Harry?**

**Saturday, June 24****th****, 1995**

**9:35 pm**

**(Cedric's Point of View)**

I felt like I was flying through the air without a broom at a superfast speed. Normally, I would enjoy the speed since I had an addiction to it but not today. At the moment, I was more concerned and worried about the person I'd just left in the Graveyard than the actual flying bit.

Today had been the craziest, most adventurous, and scariest day of my life. Who knew the Triwizard cup was a portkey? Who knew once Harry and I touched the cup it would not end the competition but would take us off the school grounds and into a dangerous situation?

Harry and I didn't, and I sincerely doubt the Headmaster and the Professors knew or else we wouldn't have been allowed to touch it! So there was someone at school that wanted to hurt Harry and - and to do so - took him off the grounds - with me unknowingly along for the ride.

I had only been flying for six seconds when I felt myself slam into the ground. My face was pressed into the grass, and I knew because the smell of it filled my nostrils. During the "ride," I had closed my eyes and kept them closed once I knew I landed back on school grounds.

I did not move for a few seconds trying to catch my breath as it was knocked out of me because I hit the ground hard. The only things I felt at the moment were the hard ground, the lack of air, and the smooth, cold handle of the Triwizard cup. Everything else I didn't feel because of shock and exhaustion coursing throughout my body. Those two things were keeping me glued to the ground while I breathed in the smell of the grass.

A few seconds later, I felt like I was strong enough to move, so I slowly pushed my upper body off the ground and looked at what was happening in front of me.

In one corner, I saw the professors and the judges talking quietly in their groups. The crowds of Hogwarts' students were cheering and screaming as loud as they could when they saw a Hogwarts champion had won the Tournament. I didn't relish in the pleasure and happiness of winning as I normally would if the situation was different. No, I was more worried about getting help for Harry and finding out that he was safe and unharmed from those evil foul creatures that called themselves wizards.

No one - in the crowd of hundreds of people - knew that something was terribly wrong, but they were all about to find out.

Oh yes, they definitely were about to find out!

This kind of news could destroy thousands of witches and wizards in our world and turn our lives upside-down. Why is that, you may ask? After defeating the Dark Lord when he was just one-year-old, Harry inspired hope, freedom, and light back into our world. However, if Harry was injured badly or worst- killed, he would not be able to fight against the increasing darkness that was slowly prevailing on our world. The hope, freedom, and light inspired in our witches and wizards by Harry would soon disappear, leaving fear, restriction, and darkness to succeed.

So now you know the reason behind why I absolutely detested being the one having to break the awful news to the Wizarding world. I was reluctant at first, I will honestly admit, but I knew deep inside I absolutely needed to. It was the only way I could see to get help for Harry, and to make sure everyone in our world was aware of what occurred in tonight's events.

With shaky arms and legs, I managed to get to my feet and then hurried to Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore was deep in conversation with the other judges with his back facing the maze and me. The judges were all in a huddle talking quietly to one another and looked to be arguing about something. _Probably something to do with tonight,_ I thought. They were apparently having a conference about how each champion did and what score each judge should give for that person on his/her performance of the task.

I thought it was peculiar that no one noticed Harry wasn't with me, or that he wasn't back yet, but I shrugged it off. Maybe, they had forgotten in the excitement of the moment.

"Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore," I called out loudly, trying to be heard over the excitement the crowd still participated in.

The said person I called, turned around and was - dare I say - startled to see me running up to him. I assumed he thought I would be busy talking to my friends while waiting for the results to come in. "Professor, I need…to…talk with…you…about something…very…important," I managed to get out as I tried to get my breathing back to normal.

The Headmaster raised a bushy, white eyebrow in a silent question.

"What could possibly be so important in order for you to interrupt our discussion, Mr. Diggory?" Karkaroff sneered.

Dumbledore lifted his hand in the air; a signal for everyone to be silent. "Please, Professor Karkaroff, let my student speak," he said in a calming voice. "I'm always willing to listen to anything my pupils have to say. Whether the conversation is important or not."

Ignoring Professor Karkaroff's soft noise of impatient disbelief beside him, Professor Dumbledore turned his undivided attention to me. "Now, Mr. Diggory, what can I do for you? I must say; it's rather surprising but welcome - all the same - to see you talking to an old man like myself, when you could be celebrating with your friends on being the first to reach the Triwizard cup," he murmured jovially.

"Um," I began nervously. "That's the reason why I need to speak with you, sir. It's has to do with the Triwizard cup," I mumbled, shuffling from one foot to the other in anxiousness. I looked up from seeing how deep of a hole I could possibly make with the toe of my shoe and stared into the calming blue eyes of the Headmaster.

"Yes? What about it, my boy?" he prompted me, a frown appearing on his winkled face.

"Isn't it obvious?" Professor Karkaroff asked, an expression of disgust showing clearly on his pale face. "Clearly, the boy is here to complain about something. Probably about how the maze was dangerous and how it messed up his pretty boy looks and clothes. Don't listen to him, Dumbledore; he is obviously trying to get some much needed attention. If it was me, I would…" He was cut off from saying anymore by the Headmaster.

"Yes, Professor Karkaroff, I indeed know what you would do. But must I remind you, you're not at your school. You are at mine, and the rules here are extremely different than what you would do at your school in Russia. Please refrain from anymore unpleasant comments, or I will be forced to ask you to leave," Dumbledore spoke coolly, showing just a small portion of why you shouldn't mess with Albus Dumbledore.

I was extremely proud and grateful to have Albus Dumbledore not only on my side, but as a Headmaster and mentor for me while I attended Hogwarts. I was sad this would be my last year here at the school, and the fact that I wouldn't get to see the kind, grandfatherly Headmaster everyday like I used to in the past.

"Mr. Diggory?" Professor Dumbledore questioned, turning away from a fuming Karkaroff to face me once again.

Instantly, I started to feel sweat running down my forehead like tears, and I could hear my breathing and heart going as fast as an out-of-control freight train. _Here it is,_ I thought as a blast of panic was dumped over me like a bucket of ice cold water. _The time has come to finally tell someone what happened and to get some help for Harry._

"Headmaster, I need help, it's about Harry Potter, sir." That was the only thing I needed to say because Dumbledore immediately understood the seriousness of the situation.

I heard a sharp intake of breath, and then hands firmly rested on my shoulders. "Mr. Diggory," Dumbledore whispered in a serious voice. "What does the Triwizard cup have to with Harry Potter? Speaking of Harry, where is he?"

That was all the encouragement I needed. I took a deep breath and began to tell him. As I spoke, visions of everything that had passed tonight seemed to rise before my eyes. I saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revived Voldemort; I heard the popping noises that warned Harry and me that several wizards were Apparating into the graveyard; I saw the Death Eaters appearing between the graves around Harry and me.

I told the Headmaster about Barty Crouch Jr. posing as Professor Moody instead of the real one, and the same person whom put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire, so that Harry could complete in the Triwizard Tournament and somehow die in the process.

When I was asked by Professor Dumbledore where I got that information, I told him in a very grave but serious voice that Voldemort was the one who told me when he explained how Crouch helped Harry to win the tasks.

Occasionally, I was interrupted by Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Flitwick, who made sounds as though about to say something. However, Professor Dumbledore just raised his hand to stop him or her, and I was very happy about this because it was easier to keep going now that I'd started. It was truly costing me every bit of determination and will power I possessed to keep talking; yet I sensed once I'd finished, I would feel so much better.

When I told the part about this Wormtail fellow piercing Harry's arm with the dagger, however, Professor Dumbledore started to get angry. As I continued on, the more furious he became. When I reached the part where Wormtail needed some of Harry's blood for the Dark Lord's potion, Dumbledore's magic went haywire for a minute and broke a few things nearby; scaring me so much that I jumped a foot in the air in surprise.

"Very well," he simply said once he was composed again. "Please, Cedric, continue."

I continued on; I explained how Voldemort had emerged from the cauldron, and told Dumbledore all I could possibly remember of Voldemort's speech to the Death Eaters. Then I told how Voldemort had untied both Harry and me, returned our wands, and told to prepare to duel against him separately. I told Dumbledore about being put under one of the Unforgivables – the Cruciatus curse – two or three times. That's when I saw Professor Dumbledore's serene face turn to rage then to concern before quickly turning back to calm. All of this happened under a minute.

Then I mentioned to the Headmaster that this next part I really didn't get, but I would try my best to describe everything I saw. When I began to talk about the golden beam of light that had connected Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand, I found myself having trouble speaking as I still didn't completely understand what had been going on.

I spoke about what had come out of Voldemort's wand. I told the Professor who had appeared in the graveyard with Voldemort, his Death Eaters, and both Harry and me. I told him that I saw an old man, Bertha Jorkins…and what I assumed were Harry's parents emerging from the wand.

This time when I stopped, it wasn't a professor who wanted to asked questions. It was me. I was basically reliving the dramatic experience as I explained what happened. My insides felt raw and cold with fright for Harry's life and safety.

I was usually not the kind of person to cry, not because it wasn't manly, but because there weren't a lot of people I was close with who had died. Tonight was different. Tonight I released all of my feelings by sobbing my heart out, crying for the person I considered a friend, a brother, and a companion.

It took me five minutes to be calm from my little breakdown. When I was composed enough, I looked up into the sad blue eyes of my Headmaster. On a closer inspection, I could see the clear tear tracks on his old wrinkly cheeks. I also realized the Headmaster's hand was resting gently on my left shoulder, giving me silent reassurance, comfort, and encouragement to continue the story.

But I didn't want to finish the story. All I wanted to do is go lay in my nice, warm, comfortable bed and sleep. To pretend tonight's events were all just a bad dream. I was certain I would wake up from it and see Harry in the morning, alive and well. But I knew what happened tonight wasn't a nightmare, and I knew Harry wasn't here. He was somewhere, anywhere in the country and possibly hurt. I couldn't do much right now. The only thing I could do for him was to finish telling the story. So with a deep breath and a shaking voice, I persisted on.

I described how the figures that had appeared from the wand, were prowling the edges of the golden web, how Voldemort had seemed to fear them, and how all the shadows – including me – helped Harry as he continued to battle with the Dark Lord. How, the shadow of Harry's mother had told him what to do. How, when Harry and I were about to leave, Voldemort shot a spell at Harry, causing him to become distracted and miss the portkey.

After I was finish, Professor Dumbledore went silent for a minute, a calm and thoughtful expression on his face. He was obviously trying to comprehend all the facts he had learned this evening, and figure out the best plan of action he should take. How could a few simple hours change the Wizarding World in so many different ways that I couldn't possibly list them all?

While the Headmaster was thinking up possible plans to find Harry, I was having an internal battle. I felt helpful when I was telling the story; I was scared, sad, and worried for Harry when I came to the difficult parts at the end, relieved the story telling was over, and impatient for the professors to take action in the search for Harry. My shoulders slumped down, my head and neck bent, my hands intertwined together, and my feet shuffling the dirt on the ground as I waited to hear what the Headmaster planned on doing next.

Professor Dumbledore straightened up so he was at his full height and turned to the closest professor, which happened to be Professor McGonagall.

"Minerva, please get all of our students back in the castle and up in their Common rooms. Have the rest of the professors help you. No students, including the Head Boy and Girl, and Prefects, should be out of their houses. If any professors find a student who is disobeying, please handle the punishment as I will be too busy," Dumbledore ordered.

Professor McGonagall nodded her head stiffly, and if I wasn't mistaken, I saw some unshed tears swimming in her eyes. I could see that she cared as deeply for Harry as Professor Dumbledore and me. It shouldn't be surprising as she was Harry's Head of House, but this was different. It seemed to me like Professor McGonagall cared more for Harry than what should normally be allowed in a student/professor relationship.

Professor Dumbledore then turned to Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxine. "You two may decide what you want to do with your students, but please make sure they are away from here as the other professors and I need to locate a student," he announced softly before turning back to face me.

"Mr. Diggory, please stay. I may need your help in finding Harry," I nodded my head in acknowledgement. I would help anyway I could if that meant we would find Harry tonight.

'_Where are you, Harry?_' I thought worriedly as I looked up to the inky, black sky and bright, shining stars. '_Wherever you are, Harry, I hope you're safe and alright.'_

* * *

><p>AN: Review, please.


	5. The Letter

A/N: I know, I know. I should be hit with tomatoes, eggs, or any other foods you can imagine throwing at me. How dare I leave you hanging like that for almost two months?! However, I did warn you all that updates would be slow from now on since I have a Beta editing this story and others authors' works too.

Just a couple of accomplishments I wanted to point out I missed out on while I was away. My birthday has come and passed. It was on April 14th, and I turned 20. Second, I took my finals for college about a week ago, and I'm pretty sure I passed. Third, I'm a sophomore in college now! Finally, my older brother and his finance are officially college graduates.

Now, on to the story. I'm sure you all realize by now I don't own anything related to the _Harry Potter_ series. And no, I didn't acquire them in my absence. That's not why I was gone for so long. I would like to thank my two betas, teamedwardforever1998 and cartersdaughter for correcting this chapter.

Happy reading!

* * *

><p><strong><em>Previously on Chapter Three of The Power to Change the Future:<em>**

_While Voldemort and his "followers" were distracted by the ghosts, I quickly ran to Fawkes. Spreading his wings, Fawkes flew up and landed on my shoulder, and then he gently rubbed his head against mine in a reassuring way. I peeked one last time at the graveyard, people, and ghosts before my vision was blinded with flames, forcing me to close my eyes. Warmth surrounded me for a brief moment, and then it was gone along with the weight on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, I saw I was in my dorm room at Hogwarts. I walked over to the window and saw bright lights over at the Quidditch field, telling me the third task was still going on. 'I wonder if Cedric was already back?' I thought absentminded. Fawkes had landed on my bed and appeared to be waiting patiently for me to do what I needed to get done._

_I didn't have a full plan; I didn't have time for one. All I knew at the moment was I had to quickly pack my stuff, and I would make up a plan along the way._

_**Previously on Chapter Four of The Power to Change the Future:**_

_"Mr. Diggory, please stay. I may need your help in finding Harry," I nodded my head in acknowledgement. I would help anyway I could if that meant we would find Harry tonight._

_'Where are you, Harry?' I thought worriedly as I looked up to the inky, black sky and bright, shining stars. 'Wherever you are, Harry, I hope you're safe and alright.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

**The Letter**

**Back in Gryffindor's Dorm Room **

**Saturday, June 24****th****, 1995**

**9:40 pm**

**Harry's age: 14**

Dashing to my trunk, I pulled out several things. The items were: a few sets of Muggle clothes, along with all of my money (both Muggle and Wizard), my Gringott's key, a bottle of ink, an unopened package of parchment, and a red feather quill.

I grabbed my school bag, tore off the loose thread on the corner of the zipper, and transfigured it into a mirror image of my bag. My friends would know something was wrong if all of my stuff went missing, so I was going to transfigure all of my things to two sets. Doing this would allow me to take all of my stuff without people wondering how it all disappeared. Besides, missing stuff could alert everyone to the fact someone had broken into the castle, or I had escaped Voldemort and was back on school grounds.

I took the second school bag and transfigured it into a muggle book bag. Afterwards, I went back to my original bag and emptied it before I started to transfigure all of my things. When I was done, I looked at my handiwork. I was very impressed and pleased with the results. How I'd managed to transfigure one thing into another, much less, everything into two sets was truly amazing. After all, I was quite horrible in the subject of Transfiguration. My theory was the only reason I had managed the small feat was because I was in such a desperate situation.

Taking the first set of items, I placed them in the muggle backpack. While I was doing so, I placed an expansion charm and a lightweight charm on the bag, so that I could fit everything inside and have it not be so heavy when I picked it up.

When that was completed, I changed into one of my sets of muggle clothes; including a black ski hat to cover my hair and scar. I picked up my Gringott's key and pocketed it along with my money. I sat on my bed, examining the room for probably the very last time in my life. I was going through memory lane, all the memories my dorm mates and I had created in the past four years here at Hogwarts. Both good and bad memories were made in this room.

A few minutes passed; then I decided it was time to leave. So I stood up, grabbed my bag, and slung it over my shoulders; then I grabbed my cloak and tucked it between my arm and body.

Silently, I walked to the door…I stopped and paused for a moment. I glanced back with a heavy, sad sigh. I would never see this room again.

I turned in Fawkes' direction –he was still standing on my bed - and told him where to take me next. I needed to go to Dumbledore's office to get the sword of Godric Gryffindor; the sword that had become the device Hermione, Ron, and I used in the original timeline to destroy the Horcruxes. Ron, Hermione, and I didn't know the sword could destroy the pieces of Voldemort's soul until later, when Hermione was reading about Horcruxes in her history book, the one she had brought with her on our adventure. We barely managed to destroy some of the Horcruxes without the sword's help, but the sword did smash three of the seven Horcruxes. I had to swallow hard; I needed the sword desperately in order to complete my mission, and the only option I saw was to steal it.

Fawkes flew over to me, and the next thing I knew: I was being blinded by flames and surrounded by all sides by warmth. I closed my eyes in order to not get dizzy and kept them like that until the journey was over. When I felt my feet touch the ground, I didn't open my eyes. Instead, I kept them closed and stood still for a minute, so I wouldn't upchuck my dinner from the fast, spinning travel ride I took.

I figured out in a second where I was, when I opened my eyes. I found myself in front of the entrance to the Headmaster's office, the two gargoyles staring back at me without blinking once as I suddenly appeared out of thin air. Without any problems, the door to the corridor slid open, and I was let in after I whispered the right password, "Cockroach Cluster". The door closed silently behind me once I was on the first step.

A few seconds later, I reached a large oak door that led to Professor Dumbledore's office. I opened it soundlessly, in case someone was in the office at the moment, or in case the figures in the portraits were still there. I very slowly opened the door about an inch and peered inside. The office was empty of any wizards or witches who might have been there at one point or another. Turning my head to the left, I saw all the Headmasters and Headmistresses from the past were all gone from their portraits on the wall. I grimaced. They had probably to spread the terrible news to the rest of the Wizarding world: Harry Potter was missing and possibly dead.

Quickly stepping fully inside, I went into action, starting the task I had set for myself in this office. I had to work fast if I wanted to leave without getting caught and blowing my mission before it even started! I ran over to the glass case that was located beside Professor Dumbledore's desk and gently opened it. What I found inside was a shiny sword. The blade was made out of pure silver with the handle incasing in several large rubies that looked like spots of blood. Engraved deeply in cursive on the blade was: Godric Gryffindor.

I remembered what the Headmaster told me back in my second year after I described to him how I managed to pull the sword out of the sorting hat, _"'Only a true Gryffindor can pull that from the hat…'"_ I quoted with a small soft smile. I lightly moved my fingers over the sword I had not held for the past two years.

Picking up the cloak and the bag I'd dropped earlier, I stood there in the office. The place with so many memories…some good and some bad…

If someone had come up to me and ask me if I considered my relatives' house my home, I would say...

Hell No!

However, if someone would ask me the place I considered my home, my reply would be…

Hogwarts!

Hogwarts was my true home because I had friends, family, mentors, magic, and fun. I received love and was taken care of. I truly had none of those things at the Dursleys. Suddenly, I felt hot tears burning at the edges of my eyes as I turned to face the door. In order to fulfill my destiny, I would have to leave them…this…all behind, so I could do what I was born to do.

Kill Voldemort, once and for all.

I knew deep down inside my heart I could fail my mission. I could either die in the middle or at the very end. If that would happened, I hoped I was able to destroy most of the Horcruxes before I left for the next world. Hopefully, the Order, the Weasleys, and Hermione would find my body and bury me, if that should ever come to pass. But until then, no one would know I had escaped Voldemort's clutches, and I was really alive.

I tried to take a step that would take me closer to the door; however, my feet felt like they were buried in concrete. They didn't want to move. Attempting a few more times, I gave up as I let out a frustrated growl.

I just couldn't do it…

Throwing down my book bag and Invisibility Cloak, I stared back at the office. The office was empty of any life; there would be no one here to tell Professor Dumbledore the Boy-who-had-lived-and-died was, in fact alive and well and was currently in his office.

Even though my original plan was to have everyone I loved think I was dead, I just couldn't do it. No matter how much I tried. I just couldn't make myself move away from this place. It wasn't right, and the guilt was slowly eating away at my soul. My intentions may be good, but leaving everyone to assume I was dead wasn't right.

An idea suddenly popped into my mind. I could write a letter to Dumbledore and my loved ones, telling them I was, in fact alive and well. Furthermore, I could inform them in the letter I was going into hiding to train so I could fight Voldemort in the future or something to that extent. I would mention in the letter: therefore, I would not be able to come out of hiding anytime soon because I didn't want the Wizarding world to know what I was up to. The letter to the Headmaster would be the only one that would tell the truth of what I was really doing, and I knew he would keep my secret if I asked him to do so.

Of course, I wouldn't have much time to spare on writing multiple letters, so writing just one to the Headmaster would have to be sufficient until I was away from the castle. I may be the age of fourteen physically, but I still had the mind of a seventeen year old, and even I knew I was risking the chance of being caught by staying in one place for more than five minutes.

I hurried over to the desk and pushed all the paperwork and books to the side which left room in the center, so I could write my letter. There was no new parchment to be found on the desktop, nor was there a quill or an ink bottle. However, I could not bring myself to shift through Professor Dumbledore's desk drawers in search of paper. It was bad enough I was stealing the Gryffindor Sword. The only solution I saw was to use my wand so it wouldn't look like someone went through his drawers. So I pulled out my wand.

"Accio Parchments. Accio quill. Accio ink bottle!" I whispered, pointing my wand at the desk. A drawer off to the left side sprang open and out flew a few sheets of tan parchment paper. A few seconds later, a gray/white/black eagle feather quill appeared in my sight. A tall bottle of black ink came a few moments later, and all three items landed in my hands.

I set all of the items down on the wooden desk and was about to sit down in the Headmaster's chair, when something black caught my eye. I turned my head in the direction where I saw it. There in the same drawer from where the parchment, quill, and ink bottle sat the diary of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Tom, also known as Lord Voldemort, was a half-blood, yet he said he was a pureblood to his followers and the rest of the Wizarding world. He never forgave his parents for leaving him and grew to hate all muggles or anyone he thought was beneath him. Thus, he created his plan of ridding the Wizarding world and the Muggle world of anyone who dared refuse to follow him.

I swallowed hard at the site of the little black book that caused so much trouble in the past. From the outside, it looked quite innocent. But in the inside… in the inside…it caused quite a bit of panic and pain. I could not bring myself to touch it, so with the help of my wand I called it.

"Accio Tom Riddle's Diary!" I whispered once again, pointing my wand at the book. It flew out of the drawer. I cast a Levitating charm on the item and moved it so the diary was hovering a few inches above the desk. Setting it down slowly and gently, I felt a wave of déjà vu.

The last time I had seen the book, I'd been a tired, blood, slime, and ink covered twelve-year-old, who had just saved my best friend's sister from the clutches of the memory-come-to-life of Voldemort's younger-self. Later on, I found out the diary was a Horcrux. The very same Horcrux that been dead for two years now.

The pages were worn with time. In the center of the entire book was a hole, the size of a walnut, from where the Basilisk fang had penetrated the book and destroyed the Horcrux inside. Many of the pages were now crinkled with dried ink and in some spots, blood…my blood.

Placing the little black diary aside, I returned to the task at hand. I took a sheet of parchment paper from the stack and set it in the middle of the desk, right in front of me. Grabbing both the quill and ink bottle, I prepared to write.

I pondered what to say in the letter to my Headmaster and mentor since I had come to Hogwarts at eleven-years-old. Sitting down, an idea came to me. And I began to write.

**Five Minutes Later**

I set the quill down beside the now-finished letter and picked up the parchment to read over my work.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_First off, let me congratulate you on figuring out the password to open this letter. The reason I placed a password on this letter is because this sheet of parchment contains information that could be deadly if it were found in the wrong hands._

_Secondly, as you probably already guessed, I'm in fact, not missing, nor am I dead, as the whole Wizarding world believes. I'm planning on it staying that way, for a while, at least. Before you ask another question, let's get back on the task at hand, yes? I promise to explain everything in the near future. Anyways, I know after tonight, you will want to start fighting the dark side again after disbanding your group a little over thirteen years ago._

_Professor, I know about a certain club of yours, and I know you will want to tell your followers in the Order that I'm alive and the information I will tell you, but please do not! I know most of the witches and wizards who make up the Order of the Phoenix are my friends and family, who would do anything in their power to help me. However, I can only trust you with this information._

_I should also mention that should you ignore my request of keeping the information a secret, I have placed a nifty little spell I found on the letter to keep you from revealing all of my secrets. I know you will honor my request if I ask, but I'm also preparing for if you do not._

_And speaking of Mad-Eye Moody, have you and the other Professors figured out that Professor Moody is, in fact, a wanted Death Eater? I know you don't want to believe your best friend was attacked and is being impersonated right now, but I speak the truth. The Death Eater goes by the name of Bartemius "Barty" Crouch Jr. More information will be given to you once you have a nice "chat" with "Mad-Eye Moody"._

_You see, I've escaped Voldemort's clutches and have returned to the castle to pack my stuff and write this letter to you. I feel it would be wise of me to go away for the time being, instead of just staying here to wait on you to come back to the school. Also, I feel it would be a great idea to spend my time away training and learning as much as I can on my own._

_I know you are probably wondering what is going through my head right now, as to why I won't stay at the school. Let's just say I have plans; many plans that are - and will be – set into motion soon._

_I want you to inform all the Order members – once you have Sirius gather them all – my friends: Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Cedric, Luna, and Neville, and any family members I may have forgotten to mention, that I'm alive and away from Voldemort. Furthermore, tell them I will not be in contact with them for a long time and to not even bother trying to contact me. Please tell them I will be busy training, so that the next time I come face to face with Voldemort, I will be much better in dueling and have a more advanced knowledge in everything magic. _

_Finally, please inform them to not go looking for me. I will be safe! However, trying to contact me will alert Voldemort and his "friends" the direction or the area I might possibly be at, which could ruin any and all plans to keep me safe in vain. But do not fret; I had decided that you will be my "spokesperson or messager" so to speak. What the job entails for you is when I indicate it, whether in a form of a letter or in person, anything I want you to tell my friends or family, you will do so and only that. If you mention something I want just between us to any of my family or friends or to your Order or staff members without my permission, the consequences will be severe. Professor, I'm going to need help with my plans, and you're the only person with the kind of knowledge I need. I'm putting my faith and trust in you. Please do not disappointment me by betraying that trust. _

_ The plans and actions I currently have in mind, will not be taken lightly. These decisions are not being made on a whim. I've been thinking about this for a very long time now; tonight just happens to be the night I will put those plans into motion. But like I said earlier, I do not take these actions lightly. I know what is at stake and will be making arrangements for my continued safety. All you have to know is that I'm fine, and I will contact you if I'm ever in a dire situation that I know I can't win. _

_This isn't goodbye, Professor. I refused to say it, and I will need your help in the near future, so I will say "See you later". _

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

_P.S. I forgot to mention in the letter how I knew some of things I shouldn't have. However, I'm afraid I have no time as I hear the crowd of students approaching the castle. I know what I'm doing will hurt a lot of people and will make those said people upset with me, but my plans will be worth all the pain that I have - or will - cause. Like you always say, "It's for the greater good," and that is exactly what I'm doing. See you around, Professor._

Once I was done reading the letter and was satisfied with it, I placed the spells on the parchment like I said I would in the letter.

When that was done, I turned my attention back to Tom's diary. I started to flip through the book until I found an entire page at the back of the book that had not been damaged by the ink. I quickly tore it out of the book, making the edge of the paper hilly as it didn't tear out smoothly as I would like.

I grabbed the quill off of Dumbledore's desk, dipped it in ink and wrote…

_Professor,_

_The mission starts now. I will see you soon, I promise_.

_-Harry_

_P.S. I'm sorry, Professor, but I'm taking Tom Riddle's Diary with me. I will return the book when I'm done with it. _

I wanted to say more, but I wasn't sure what else to say, so I left it like that. I wanted to leave the page out in the open so the Headmaster would see, but I didn't want it to be blown away before someone saw it. So I took a small, heavy book and used it to hold the page with my message on it firmly in place.

I had suspected now the Headmaster knew about the Horcruxes; he probably had known for years, for he had begun to search for them this summer. However, I vowed to myself I wouldn't let anyone die for me, and that went for Professor Dumbledore, too. My goal was to make sure I got to the ring Horcrux before Dumbledore did. For the ring was to be the old man's death warrant. Hopefully, with everything that had happened tonight, it would delay him from searching for the Horcruxes, and he would be required to help the Ministry.

I tore a small section off of the paper and wrote another message that I would place in the glass case:

_I'm sorry, Professor. I'm taking the sword in order for me to __destroy the Horcruxes. I promise to return it as soon as I can, I give you my word.__ Do not follow me; I can handle this on my own._

_-Harry_

Immediately, I ran over to the case that was now empty and placed the piece of paper upright so someone would see it when she/he looked at the case. I prayed with my whole heart that Dumbledore would understand my messages, that he wouldn't try to tell anyone what I was really doing, and that he would let me do this on my own. Hopefully, Professor Dumbledore would believe my messages as he was likely to do. Tom Riddle's diary and Godric Gryffindor's sword should be obvious clues that it was me who wrote the letter and messages. But if it wasn't, I hoped Professor Dumbledore was smart enough to use the intruder detector spell on his office because it would reveal who was inside this room when he was out. No potions, no spells, nothing would hide the person's true identity once the intruder detector spell was cast. That is why I hoped Dumbledore would use it if he didn't believe it was me.

Grabbing the diary from the desk, I went back over to my bag and slipped the book inside. I zipped the bag up, slung it over my shoulder, made sure the sword was attached tightly into my belt, and flung the Invisibility Cloak over my head. I once again looked back at the office. The open case and my notes were clearly in place.

Now, there was one last thing I had to do, and then I could finally leave.

Destroy the Ravenclaw Diadem Horcrux.

* * *

><p>AN: The beginning of Harry's plans are upon us now. I wonder what is up Harry's sleeve now that he has powers/skills, and everyone (as of right now) thinks he either kidnapped or killed by Voldemort. Heck, even I don't know what Harry is planning on doing, and I'm the writer here! We will see as the story unfolds. I should inform you, my readers, the canon characters who had died in the Harry Potter's series and those who did not, but did in this story (mentioned in chapters 1 and 2) will be revealed in chapter 11. I'm still currently writing it, and I still don't know the characters - who survived in the books - fate in this story. Hopefully, I will know soon, but any suggestions are very much welcome. I'm not very good at killing characters off, even lovable ones.


	6. The Ravenclaw Diadem Horcrux

A/N: Managed to crank out another chapter for this story. I want to thank my two betas, teamedwardforever1998 and cartersdaughter for correcting this chapter. Without further ado, read on!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

**The Ravenclaw Diadem Horcrux**

**Saturday, June 24****th****, 1995**

**10:35 pm**

I don't know why I took Riddle's diary with me. The only reason I could give you was: I felt compelled to take the – now – harmless diary. I felt it would help me in some way with my mission. I couldn't see the reason for it at the moment, but I was certain I would need it sometime in the future.

So here I was, currently walking through the silent dark corridors of the school with my father's Invisibility Cloak wrapped tightly around me. Even though everyone was still outside, I placed a silencing charm on my feet, so if I did come in contact with another person, they would not hear me as I walked passed them. Call it paranoid, if you want to. I called it protection. Protection from failing my mission, that is.

Speaking of the mission, I was on my way to destroy one of the items that was stopping Voldemort from dying. From what I remembered in my original timeline, Voldemort hid one of the Horcruxes here in this castle, knowing no one would believe he would hide a piece of dark magic under the leader of light's nose. The Ravenclaw Diadem…which was the last Horcrux my friends and I had found in my original timeline. Or so I had thought at the time. Turned out, I was the final Horcrux at the end. In this timeline, the diadem would be the very first one I would destroy, because I was not going to come back here again. It would be unnecessary and painful, if I ever did.

I quickly strolled down the halls, trying not to look anywhere but straight ahead, for I knew I would give up my mission immediately if I saw something with a memory stuck to it. When I made it to the end of the south corridor, all I saw was an empty wall. I just stood staring at the empty wall for a moment, thinking about what lay behind it.

'Here we go,' I thought, anxiously. 'This is where my mission truly begins.'

It wasn't only the major stuff I could remember from the original timeline, like the Horcruxes and all of my friends and family's deaths. I remember all of the little things too, like train rides to Hogwarts, some school homework throughout the years, and what grades I received on some of those assignments. So far, certain items like Tom Riddle's Diary and Gryffindor's Sword have reminded me of specific events. I'm positive more memories will be triggered down the road.

I closed my eyes tightly and thought, with all of my might, of what I desired the most. A moment later, a door suddenly appeared that led to the Room of Requirement. I entered the room swiftly and closed the door behind me. Once I was in, I took the time to observe my surroundings in the room. Around me was a dimly lit room, full to the top with various objects long hidden or thrown away. The most common sight I saw were items in different state of brokenness. Broken wands in a range of length and material snapped in half, torn and ripped textbooks long forgotten, bits and pieces of something I couldn't fully recognized – only knowing it was magical from the on and off aura it had hovering around it – unwanted and never to be used again by his/her owner. There were so many things in this room; it would take me forever to name. Plus, I wasn't sure exactly what some of the things were or did.

The undesirable assortment of junk was piled high in a disarrayed manner, so high the tip of the tower brushed lightly against the ceiling of the room. In no uncertain terms was I even going to attempt to climb this "mountain". The way the objects were stacked seemed unstable and had a high possibility of collapsing if a person even tries to climb on it. Just thinking of all of these broken items made me think of that night when Ron, Hermione, and I were in this very same room, trying to locate the Diadem. I remembered the Horcrux was accidently knocked out of my hands and thrown into one of the million piles lying here. How with the help of Hermione, we had to climb a mountain of gadgets and miscellanea to reach the cursed item. At least, _that_ mountain appeared steadier.

I pulled out my wand and pointed it straight at the huge pile of clothing. "Accio Diadem!" I said. I waited a few seconds, but nothing came. 'Just like I did the last time,' I thought with a tired sigh. I briefly wondered if Horcruxes were an exception to the rule about summoning objects. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I really needed that Horcrux, so I could destroy it. Because if I didn't Voldemort would use it to come back to life. Before, I ever succeeded in killing him, that is.

Resigning myself to the fact that I would have to search by hand, I began the long and daunting process of rifling for the Horcrux in a nearby pile of empty chocolate frog boxes and used potion bottles that was just as big as the rest. Ten minutes later and a much smaller mountain later, I gave up on the idea the Ravenclaw's Horcrux could be in that heap of trash. As much as I didn't want too, I tried the next mound and the next one after when I didn't find the wanted item. When I was halfway done rummaging through the fourth pile of discarded objects – this time broken quills and inkwells – it dawned on me: all I had to do is be more specific on what I wanted when I cast the summoning charm.

I slapped my left hand to my forehead hard. I welcomed the loud sound and the slight pain the hit has caused. I deserved it. After all, I felt so stupid for forgetting that important tidbit of information. I had the very same problem the last time I went searching for the Ravenclaw Horcrux. Why couldn't I have remembered this issue twenty-five minutes ago? It would have saved me a lot of time and frustration.

"Accio Horcrux, Ravenclaw's Diadem!" I cried out this time. Incredibly, there was crashing and banging as an object flew through the air in my direction. Catching the Diadem in my hand was the first action I took; the second was looking at it. I did not see what the Diadem looked like until a few seconds after I caught it with ease that only a seeker could have.

It was made of silver, dripping with sapphires and diamonds, weighing quite heavily in my hands. I again wondered how this could expand Ravenclaw's knowledge, when it looked like something she could wear to a ball!

As if the said item could read my mind, it started to hiss in my direction, like the Horcrux somehow knew what was going to happen. And it probably did. After all, it had part of Voldemort's soul in it.

I rapidly took the sword and made my way over to the Horcrux, its jewels glittering up at me like eyes. Like Voldemort was watching my every single move. I felt a shudder run throughout my body at that thought. I slowly raised the sword above my head. A mixture of hatred and triumph appeared in my eyes as I glanced at the Diadem one last time, before it would be in pieces. I thought of my friends and family right at that moment. How if it wasn't because of Voldemort and his quest for immortality, I would still have my parents. Sirius wouldn't have been shipped off to Azkaban as an innocent man. And those innocent families wouldn't have been broken up, because of Voldemort's evil deeds.

"This is for the lives of my parents which you took so cruelly and mercilessly!" I shouted, and without a second thought brought the sword down onto the Diadem. The sword cut the Horcrux in half as it smoked and let out a cry of agony. The cry echoed around the room.

Once I was positive it was destroyed, and it couldn't hurt anyone, I picked up the pieces of the diadem and put them in my bag. I didn't really have a plan on what I was going to do with the Horcruxes, especially now after they weren't a threat to innocent lives. I only knew I wanted to take them with me. I would decide what to do with them later on.

I felt exhausted on the outside, but on the inside…on the inside, I felt elated I succeeded in destroying one of the Horcruxes on my own. I knew I could do it. But I knew this mission was going to be a lot harder without Hermione's knowledge and Ron's support. Plus, being able to communicate with them all the time helped a whole lot as well. I just hoped I would have someone to talk to soon, or else I would go insane from loneliness.

With a sigh, I made my way out of the room, after I checked to make sure there were no signs I was ever there. Not like anyone would see. I mean, the only people that knew where the Horcrux was located would be Voldemort and me. Everyone else was clueless about it. Even Dumbledore: which surprised me. I mean, the Headmaster knew almost everything that happened in the castle, so how did he not know about _this_?

I shook my head to clear that thought away. I didn't have time to stand around and think! I had things to do. I called Fawkes once again, and he appeared a second later. I told him to take me to Gringotts as he flew over to me. I was once again blinded by flames and surrounded by warmth, and I closed my eyes until the journey was over.

It was only a moment later that I opened my eyes and found myself on the steps in front of Gringott's Wizarding Bank at Diagon Alley. I already knew that the Hufflepuff cup, which was another one of Voldemort's Horcruxes, was located in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault here in this bank. However, I had no desire to search for it right now. All I wanted was to get some money, find a warm place to sleep, and have a good meal when I woke up.

* * *

><p>AN: I know, I know it was short. I think the next chapter is longer, so hopefully, that will make up for this short chapter. As always review and tell me what you think of the story, or just tell me what I need to work on for future works.


	7. Gringotts Wizarding Bank

**A/N: **So I don't think I need to do much explaining on this chapter. However, there are a few things. First, Griphook basically betrayed Harry, Hermione, and Ron in the seventh book. Here is another reason why it is AU. In this chapter and other future chapters, Griphook will be friendly and helpful to Harry. He may be greedy since all Goblins are, but not enough to betray Harry. Second, Harry still has many items to take care of, and most of them are at the bank. Also, it's midnight, and Harry has had a long, traumatic night. He is tired and not alert enough to do much banking business, so he will be coming back to take care of his affairs later. I should also mention that thanks to the timeline covered in Harry's fourth year at a great website called, "The Harry Potter Lexicon," I managed to keep this story from plot holes and the like. Third, in the past when money is involved, I usually made up a number. Thanks to an awesome place on Lexicon called, "Wizarding World Currency Converter", I'm now trying my best to keep the money accurate. I believe that is all I should mention.

If you have any questions that involve this story, please don't hesitate to ask. I'm willing to answer your question as long as it doesn't give away the story.

I would like to thank my two betas, teamedwardforever1998 and cartersdaughter for correcting this chapter for me.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

**Gringotts Wizarding Bank**

**Sunday, June 25th, 1995**

**11:58 pm**

I looked around for the nearest clock in the Alley, so I could figure out what the current time was. Spotting one a few feet from my left, I saw it was nearly midnight. I cursed softly in the night for not thinking about checking the time before this.

'What am I supposed to do now?'I thought to myself, hoping if I asked myself it would give me an answer. It didn't. 'It isn't exactly what one would consider banking hours. Am I really supposed to wait for eight hours until the bank opens?'

Suddenly, the main door to the bank opened, and an unfamiliar goblin stepped out into the dark night. "Mr. Potter," the goblin greeted with a nod. "My name is Blackclaw. Please, follow me."

Glancing at Fawkes in confusion for a second, I started to follow Blackclaw into the bank. The marble hall was dimly lit. All of the stools behind the long counter were empty. This was just too weird. "I'm sorry," I began to say, trying to be cautious of the words I chose. "But can you please tell me what's going on? How did you know I was outside?"

The goblin stopped walking and turned to look at me. He stared at me for a long minute, making me feel extremely uncomfortable in the process, as his forehead furrowed in – dare I say – surprise. "I shouldn't be surprised, Mr. Potter. I forgot you didn't grow up in the Wizarding world like you were supposed to. But every witch or wizard that is a pureblood or a half-blood, knows there is always at least one goblin at Gringotts for emergencies," Blackclaw replied, walking around the counter to get to the other side. "Goblins are gifted, magical creatures. We can sense when we're needed, especially by another magical creature. As for how I knew you were outside? Well, Gringotts have wards with Goblin magic around the building which will protect the building from attacks and alert one of us to a magical presence after business hours, among other things. But it is not our business to ask how and why. I hope you have your key."

I pulled my key out of my pocket and slid it across the marble counter to Blackclaw. Said goblin must've accepted everything was in order because he gave the small, golden key back to me after looking at it for five long seconds.

The fiery phoenix remained perched on my shoulder with his head against mine as we continued on our way, following the goblin as he took us to my vault. There was a door at the very end of the hall Blackclaw opened and waited for me to walk through before following closely behind. We entered a narrow stone passageway that was lit with flaming torches. I stepped aside as the goblin whistled. A second later, a small cart came rolling up the tracks toward us. Once the cart came to a stop, I climbed in followed closely by Blackclaw. Fawkes decided it would be best for him to stay on the platform and wait for our return, as he hopped off my shoulder. I glanced back at the phoenix one last time before the cart took off, making the space between us bigger and bigger.

It didn't take long for us to reach my vault. Once we stepped onto the platform in front of my vault's door, Blackclaw unlocked it and then moved the door aside for me to enter. It felt like years since I had entered my vault, but in reality, it was only eleven months. I grabbed several big handfuls of golden coins before deciding what I had was enough to get me by for the time being. I stepped outside of my vault before I turned to Blackclaw.

"I need to exchange this into Muggle money. Furthermore, I have a few other items of business I need to cover with you," I said softly.

Blackclaw nodded before closing the vault's door and locking it. He then handed the key back to me, and I pocketed it. We climbed back into the cart and quickly rode back to where Fawkes was waiting. Once I stepped out of the cart, Fawkes took flight and landed back on my shoulder. The goblin led Fawkes and I back into the marble hall before parting from us, going behind the counter and climbing up on the nearest stool. I walked around to the customer's side of the counter.

"The exchange rate is exactly five pounds for every galleon," Blackclaw replied, as he set my money on the counter. "From the weight, you have approximately one thousand galleons. How much would you like to exchange into British pounds?"

I let out a jaw-breaking yawn as I tiredly rubbed my eyes underneath my glasses. I could feel today's events were starting to catch up with me. I would need to find a place to rest soon, and the Leaky Cauldron was certainly out of the question. I would surely be recognized there once word got out I was missing. That would be the first place everyone would look for me.

"I believe five hundred galleons should be enough," I simply murmured. I didn't plan on spending any money for the next few days until I was settled somewhere. Then I would buy whatever I needed at that time.

Blackclaw counted out the correct amount of galleons before handing it to me. I counted the money, making sure the total was correct before pocketed the money. I did this not because I didn't trust the goblin. I did it because I wanted to remind myself on how much I had and if it was going to be enough to get me by until the next time I came here.

When I first came to the Wizarding world, I was nervous and excited about meeting another magical. Nervous because of what Hagrid told me during our trip to the Alley about goblins being vicious creatures. I was excited because I was going to meet and learned about goblins in this new world of mine. I didn't feel uneasy (which was common among most witches and wizards) about seeing or talking to goblins when I was on my own in before Third year. I became use to their rude behavior, realizing that it had something to do with how the magical world treated them and other magical creatures.

The goblin then counted out the British pounds before placing them in an envelope and handing it over. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you today, Mr. Potter?" Blackclaw asked.

"Actually yes, there is. I'll probably be making several large purchases in a few days and wanted to know if there was a faster way to get to my money than going down to the vaults all the time," I questioned the goblin, trying to make my life much easier.

Reaching into a cabinet behind him, Blackclaw removed several money bags of different colors. "We offer these pouches for ten galleons. All you have to do is speak the amount of money you desire directly to the bag, and the exact amount will appear inside. Each one will hold up to twenty thousand galleons, yet will never weigh more than it would if it held twenty. The bag will be tied to your vault, which is where the money will come from. These connections are also secure. Only those keyed to the bags can remove money from within them. Would you like one?"

Grinning at finding one of my problems solved, I said, "Yes, I would."

"What color would you like?" the goblin inquired.

"Red, please," I answered immediately. Blackclaw nodded his head, picked up the chosen money bag, and keyed me to the bag by taking a blood sample of three small dots and an imprint of the sound of my voice. He handed the bag to me, where I quickly filled it up with all the wizarding money I had taken from my vault. The Muggle money was in an envelope, for the time being until I could buy a Muggle wallet, and kept separate from the Wizarding money for easy access. I then put both containers of money in my backpack.

"What else can I help you with today?"

"Well," I hesitated for a moment. "I would like to arrange an appointment with the goblin in charge of my account. There are several things I need to go over. Could you please schedule a meeting a few days from now?" I paused for a moment as I thought of something. "Also, I never was told what was in my parents' will, so if possible, I would like to hear it when I come to my appointment."

I took a deep breath before I continue on with my list of requests for the goblin. "But right now, I need to find a safe place to live, where no witch or wizard can find me. I heard from a friend of my father's that my family owned a lot of property and houses, and I'm wondering if I can access one and live in it."

Blackclaw nodded in understanding. "Follow me, Mr. Potter." The goblin led me through a maze of corridors. The walls were adorned with pictures of famous goblins and a few very renowned wizards.

We finally stopped in front of a large, brass door with no engravings on it. Blackclaw ushered me inside. I found myself in a large, very impressive looking office decorated in red and mahogany. In the center of the room sat a huge desk.

"Please have a seat," Blackclaw indicated a chair opposite of him, and I sat down. Blackclaw pulled out a drawer on his left and took a few sheets of parchment and a badge - with a lion in the center – out and placed the new items on the desk. He shut the drawer before looking at me.

He handed me a few sheets of parchment, which I took immediately. "Mr. Potter, those pieces of parchment I just gave you have all the properties and houses that belong to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Now, feel free to look at the list and pick a house you would like to live in. But," Blackclaw paused, making me look up from reading the list. "If I may make a suggestion…"

"Oh, of course," I agreed quickly. "I would love to hear your opinion on this."

Blackclaw folded his hands together in front of him and watched me for a moment. "Thank you, Mr. Potter, for your kind words. Not many wizards would like to hear what goblins think on a matter. Since you're a famous wizard and have many enemies out in the world who would love nothing more than to hurt or kill you, I think you should choose Potter Manor as your home. It has excellent grounds for playing quidditch, and it's much safer than Hogwarts with all the protection your ancestors put on it, which means that the Ministry can't detect any underage magic that takes place there. They also can't trace you either. The house has the Fidelus charm placed on it, which only an heir of the family, meaning you, can control who knows the location of the Manor. Do you want to take it?" he asked me after he was done describing the house.

I shook my head in a "yes" motion quickly, since I couldn't find my voice at the moment. Blackclaw nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Very well. There is one more thing I have to tell you. The badge I have here is a portkey to the Manor. To activate it, all you have to do is touch it and say, 'Take me home.' The next piece of parchment I have here is a map of Potter Manor. It activates at the will of a true Potter."

I grabbed the map and badge from Blackclaw as I said simply, "Thank you." I stood up, and got ready to go. Before I left, I turned back to the goblin. "I wish your gold will never cease, and your business always go well."

"The same to you, Mr. Potter, the same to you," Blackclaw answered as he led me out of the room.

* * *

><p>AN: Review, please.

**Before exchange = 1,000 galleons**

**500 galleons = 2,500 British pounds**

**500 galleons = wizard galleons**

**Total wizards galleons after purchase: 490**


	8. Potter Manor, Hedwig, and a Letter

**A/N: Here is the promised chapter. I would like to thank my two betas, teamedwardforever1998 and cartersdaughter, for correcting this chapter for me. I don't think there is anything I need to explain in this chapter, so happy reading.**

**Note: Instead of posting or trying to post every two weeks, I now will be posting every two months. Sorry.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight <strong>

**Potter Manor, Hedwig, and a Letter**

**Sunday, June 25****th****, 1995**

**1:05 am**

Once I was outside and several feet away from the bank's wards, I said a quick thank you to Fawkes for his help and told him not to tell anyone – not even Dumbledore – where or what I was up to. I had read somewhere in the past wizards can communicate with animals if they are familiars and vice versa. Having a familiar means you have a stronger, more intensified bond between the two species. Fawkes was Dumbledore's familiar, and both of them could converse with and understand each other.

Since I wasn't linked to the phoenix like Professor Dumbledore, I couldn't comprehend what Fawkes was saying, but he could understand what I was saying. Basically, it was like a one-way connection instead of two-way.

After seeing him fly off into the night sky and out of sight, I took the badge and held it in both hands as I whispered, "Take me home," and felt the familiar tug of a portkey behind my navel. I let out a nervous gasp, expecting a wave of unpleasantness to come my way. However, the uncomfortable feeling never came.

The journey to Potter Manor was a smooth and fast trip, unlike other portkeys trips I had taken in the past. About a minute later I found myself standing in front of a huge Mansion. The manor was enormous in size, and appearance wise, it was breathtaking. The building was made out of pale red and yellow bricks and had a pair of magnificent, wrought iron fences wrapped around the property. Turning slowly around in a complete circle, I found myself standing on a dirt road that came from the forest, which was located on one side of the land.

I looked back at the manor, amazement shining brightly in my eyes. The manor was lit up by the moon and streetlights, and I just stood staring for five whole minutes. While I was gazing at the building, I was trying to grasp the fact I _owned _this place. 'I wonder what else I own,' I thought in awe. 'Maybe there is something in my parents' wills that says what else is mine.'

The manor, while huge, was smaller in size compared to Hogwarts, as it stood beautiful and tall. But Potter Manor beat out all of the other wizarding homes I had seen in the past. Which wasn't many, to be honest. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Fleur, and Sirius Black, my godfather, were the only wizards' houses I'd seen. I would never admit it out loud, but my place was far better than the others.

I mean, there were reasons why the three houses were no match to mine. The Burrow had a poor, large family living in it, so the house didn't have an attracted exterior. Grimmauld Place had a dark, dreary, and frightening appearance to it, so the house was more like a haunted house than a permanent residence. As for Shell Cottage, well, I didn't have time to check out the appearance. I was more concerned about destroying Horcruxes and making sure Voldemort didn't discover what we were doing. But the outside appearance of the houses and the reasons why they were like mine weren't significant to me. As for the muggle mansions, I didn't know if mine would equal or even compete against them because I had never traveled until I went to Hogwarts, and I never really watched television thanks to the Dursleys. So I didn't really know the answer.

The light of the moon gently bounced off the building, and the windows seemed to sparkle in greeting at my unexpected arrival.

Somehow sensing I was in potential danger standing outside of the property, I placed my right hand on the circle in the middle of the gate. To Muggles coming along, my action would seem strange. But for some unknown reason, I felt a strong urge I had to do this, so I could step onto the grounds.

I held my hand flat with my palm touching the cold iron circle.

Nothing happened.

So I kept my hand on the gate and waited another minute for something to happen.

Nothing.

Suddenly, an idea popped inside my head. Whether it would work or not, I wasn't sure. Of course, I wouldn't know until I tried it, so I decided to mess around and play with the thought. With my right hand still on the iron circle, I said in a loud, strong voice, "My name is Harry James Potter, the son of James and Lily Potter. I request ownership of this manor and entrance to the land." Instantly, I saw my hand glow yellow, and I felt a strong wind of magic hit me as it gusted all around me.

I heard soft sounds of locks unlocking for a moment and then silence. When I pressed gently on my hand, I pushed at the gate which swung open for me, allowing me to enter the grounds.

As I walked through the gates, I felt a tingle of magic wash over me. I knew the tingle of magic was the wards surrounding the house, checking if I was truly a Potter and not an imposter.

Nothing happened because the magic must have determined I was indeed a Potter, so I took the time to look around from my new spot. I was still standing on the long, dirt path that led the way to the building. Overgrown grass and weeds sprouted on both sides of the road, and all over the property. I spotted unkempt gardens growing in front of the manor. I saw every kind of flower I could possibly imagine arranged in flower beds and spread across the vast expanse of the lawn. Roses, (of all colors), lilies, daffodils, daisies, irises, sunflowers, tulips, and violets were some of the Muggles flowers I recognized. There were several species of flower I wasn't familiar with, but I did know they were Muggles ones, since I had never seen them at Hogwarts. There were even some wizard kinds too: Dragon-plants, Enchanter's Nightshades, Everlastings, Hawthorns, Honeysuckle, Mandrake, Rosemary, Sage, and Peppermint.

If the weeds and tall stocks of grass didn't hide the beauty of the flowers, that is. The bright moonlight shining above gave the whole area a feeling of calm and optimism, giving me invisible strength to continue on with my journey to the estate, and the mission I was on. There were three marble steps resting under a stunning pair of bronze doors that led to the manor's entrance.

I walked up the steps and recognized the compelling feeling from earlier; I needed to repeat the same actions I had performed on the doors. As I said the same words from before with the same strong voice, I once again felt a wave of magic flow over me as my _whole _body glowed white, this time. When the white faded away, the doors swung magically open to reveal a beautiful entrance hall.

When I stepped into the room, a light came on. I glanced up and saw the light was coming from an elegant looking chandelier, which was hanging from a very high ceiling. After gazing at the ceiling, I scanned the room I was now standing in. I saw it was decorated in a sophisticated kind of way, pale blue tiles and white colored walls. In two corners, by the front doors were two ancient vases sitting on brown, oak end-tables. When I walked closer to one of the vases, I saw both the vase and end table were very dusty and looked like they hadn't been cleaned in an extremely long time.

'I wonder if the whole house is like this,' I mused, disbelief showing clearly in my thoughts. 'Maybe I should hire Dobby and Winky as my house elves? I'm certain they would be overjoyed to work for me if I asked them. After all, I know they both miss working for a Wizarding family, no matter how good of an acting job they do.'

Instantly, memories of the past (in the original timeline and this one) appeared in my head. They were moments when I spent time with Dobby and Winky, directly and indirectly. Like when I first met them in person or when Dobby saved me from Lucius Malfoy. The time Winky was let go from the Crouch family. The time when Dobby told Hermione, Ron, and me Winky was getting drunk off of Butter beers because the pain and sadness of no longer having a family to take care of was too great for her to overcome. And many more wonderful moments as the years went by, no matter what the circumstances were.

I quickly came to the decision I would send a letter to Dobby and Winky sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, I could take care of myself for a while. 'But then again, I've been taking care of myself ever since I could remember, because the Dursleys didn't give a damn about me!' I thought bitterly, the hurt and anger towards my "loving" family spreading like poison throughout my body.

I shook my head quickly to get rid of those depressing thoughts. I had been miserable my whole life thinking about the "family" that should have "treated"me as another member. I thought it was time to bury the hatchet, so to speak and leave those wants alone. Although my younger self craved to be loved by my relatives, I knew deep in my heart all those years growing up, it would be a miracle for that to happen.

While I meandered away from the vase, I took a peek at the walls, where I spotted several old looking portraits of what I assumed were my relatives on my father's side. None of the wizards and witches in the paintings moved as I stood in front of them, staring. All of them were dressed in several different colors and types of dress robes and were neatly groomed as they sat forward in their chairs, sitting still for whoever was painting them. There were no nameplates below the portraits to show the name of that witch or wizard. Not that I cared whether there was one or not, seeing as it was early in the morning, and I was very tired.

Suddenly, I let out a huge jaw-breaking yawn. I decided it would be better to tour the rest of the estate tomorrow when I was fully alert. I quickly passed the cloak closet in search of a place to sleep as I continued to let out tired yawns along the way.

I woke up the next morning in a strange, new room. As I slowly sat up, I tried to remember where I was and what had happened last night. Immediately, the memory of last night's events hit me like a run-away freight train. I remembered coming back to the past to save everyone I loved from dying. I recalled what took place in the graveyard. I remembered Fawkes helping me escape the castle but not before finding and destroying the Ravenclaw horcrux and writing a letter to the Headmaster. I remembered being taken to Gringotts and finding out that I owned a mansion. Finally, I recalled I was exhausted last night and went in search of a place to sleep.

When I solved that problem quickly, another one appeared in its wake. The question of how exactly I got into a bed kept buzzing around in my head. Because the said bed I was thinking about was, in fact, the same piece furniture I was currently sitting on. The bed was king size and was oh-so-comfortable, so much so I had a brief thought about staying in bed all day and save exploring the place for a later day. However, the mention of exploring the unfamiliar manor won over lying in an extremely comfortable bed.

I pulled the covers back and noticed two things. The first was the bed set was done in Gryffindor's colors: the pillows and sheets were red while the comforter was gold. The second was me still dressed in clothes that were worn yesterday.

I untangled my legs from the warm cotton sheets and moved them to the side of the bed. I shifted slightly, so my bare feet were touching the soft red carpet that was covering the floor in the room. I stood up from the bed but had to quickly sit back down because my legs turned to Jell-O instantly. That was when I took the time to fully look around the bedroom. The room I was in was a large bedroom, obviously the Master's quarters. As I saw earlier, there was a large bed in the middle of the room with a huge mahogany dresser and a mirror rested above it on the opposite side of a door. Said door sat between four floor-to-ceiling windows. There were two adjacent walls that had two doors facing each other and several more paintings along the walls. The walls were decorated in gold while the curtains were colored in red.

As I walked to the middle door which was open, I saw it led out into a hallway. I followed the hallway to the staircase and proceeded down the stairs. I arrived in the middle of a large sitting room that was decorated in midnight blue and white. There were two midnight blue sofas facing a huge, red brick fireplace. Above the fireplace was a banner with the Potter Family Crest upon it. A roaring lion stood on the right, a griffin in mid-flight on the left, and a huge ruby stone was placed in the middle.

I continued to explore the place until I came across the kitchen. I would admit I was quite pleased to find the room twice as big as the Dursleys'. A full set of stainless steel, industrial-sized kitchen appliances were set into the cabinets, and a large island sat in the middle of the space with a butcher's block countertop. A small pantry was at the end of the kitchen cabinets but was charmed to be much larger on the inside.

The stovetop had four burners, and the oven underneath was large enough to cook for a family of ten. 'Plenty big enough for just me,' I thought. A peek in the other cabinets and drawers, and I quickly found all the plates and flatware. The cookware was all high quality stuff, as were all the dishes and glassware. This was the first time I had seen the cookware since I'd been conjuring needed items. Most of the light in the room was coming from the sun outside the windows, instead of the few lights hanging in the room.

The kitchen was equally separated in half with a long bar-like counter, about four feet high that ran the entire length of the room. There was access at both ends and some elegant barstools set nicely in front to finish off the effect of the room. The remaining space was taken up with the kitchen table. The stunning oak table had currently four place settings along the two sides of the table, but if you enlarge it a little, it could easily seat up to six.

Just the sight of the beautiful, stainless steel, Muggle appliances made me start to feel hungry. I walked in and began to search around for some ingredients in the pantry and fridge to make some breakfast. I didn't know why there were Muggle appliances in a wizard house. I had been told several times since I have been in the Wizarding world that my father and his family came from an old pureblood family. So for them to have Muggle items in the house was odd.

After five minutes, I found myself sitting down at the kitchen table eating a full plate of eggs, bacon, and toast I had prepared. All of which were under preservation and stasis charms to keep them forever fresh until the time comes for the next person to eat them.

While I was eating, I made a mental list of all of the things I needed to do, but the two major ones were to check out the manor and to send a letter to both Dobby and Winky. There was a slight problem with the latter because I didn't have Hedwig with me, and I needed an owl to send a letter. 'I could go to Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade and use an owl from the post office. However, going out in public just after I "disappeared" would be risky right now,' I thought as I contemplated my options.

I felt a headache slowly coming on as I weighed all of the alternatives on how I could send a letter to two free house elves without getting caught. I closed my eyes as I started to rub the sides of my forehead with both sets of fingertips. I felt like if I rubbed the area the pain was coming from it would somehow go away.

While I was in the middle of trying to make the headache fade away, there was an unexpected tapping noise at one of the kitchen windows closest to me. I stood up abruptly and knocked over my chair in the progress. With wand in hand, I crouched down low so whoever was knocking wouldn't spot me. I walked as quietly as possible to where I heard the sound.

As I was walking, I was trying to think of who it could be at the window. Could it be someone trying to get in? A Death Eater, perhaps? Could it be a neighbor thinking the house was abandoned and trying to steal something from inside? Could it be an order member that located me and came to take me back to Hogwarts? Or could it just be the wind?

When I reached the counter, I slowly pushed myself up, so I could get a quick peek at whoever was tapping at the window. I let out a sharp gasp at what I saw.

Hedwig, my snow-white owl, was perched just outside the window trying to get inside. With a wave of my hand, I unlocked the window manually allowing her to enter the room. Hedwig flew in with a soft swish as she passed me and landed on the opposite side of the table from where I sat. I made sure no one else was around as I looked out the window before locking it the Muggle way when I saw no one. I then turned back to my friend.

"Hello girl! How are you? How did you find me?" I asked her in a kind voice as I reached out a hand to pet her. Hedwig ruffled her feathers in anger and bit the side of my hand. "Ow! That hurt, Hedwig!" I cried out in pain as I went to get a towel from one of the kitchen's drawers, so I could stop the bleeding. I found a towel and placed it gently on the small wound. The wound wasn't bad; the blood was slowing down now, but the pain was still there. Hedwig would always nip at me, but it would always be gentle and playful. The only time Hedwig would nip at me _that_ hard was when she was furious with me about something. She then turned her back on me as I came back to the table, still holding the towel to the bite area.

"Girl, I'm so sorry I worried you," I said in a soft, gentle voice. "I didn't mean to leave you like that, but I didn't have time to find you. I was in a hurry to get away from the castle. If I had time, I would have searched for you and brought you with me. Honestly, I would."

Hedwig turned her beautiful, snow-white head to look at me, her sparkling amber eyes sending me a look like, 'Are you being truthful with me?'

I slowly nodded my head as I sat down in my chair again. Then, I looked up at Hedwig with tears leaking from my eyes as strong emotions overcame me. She had been another victim to be hit by the Killing curse in the Second war. She had died trying to protect me from the Death Eaters on the night of my final departure from my aunt and uncle's house.

This time I was careful as I reached out to pet her, and she grudgingly let me. I pet Hedwig for about five minutes, but it seemed like forever while I was doing so. While I was petting her, she started to relax and rubbed her head against my hand. This was her way of saying she accepted my apology, and I was forgiven. Hedwig looked at me and asked in her own special way, 'Why did you disappear?'

I let out a soft sigh as I thought of the right words in order to express my reason for leaving. After a minute passed, I began to tell Hedwig the truth of why I'd disappeared. I told her the whole story; most of the citizens of the Wizarding world had been killed, my friends and family included, by Voldemort. How I was the one that had a destiny to stop Voldemort and the war. How my job was to find the Horcruxes and destroy them before Voldemort got there. I told her everything I could remember about those dark times. I ended my story with, "So this is the only way to end Voldemort."

Silence overcame us for a very long time; the only noise in the room was the sounds Hedwig was making as I continued to pet her.

"You can't stay here with me, Hedwig…" I said, sadness coloring my voice heavily.

Hedwig was none too happy with that statement. Actually, saying that was an understatement. She was livid with me as she ruffled her feathers and gave an angry hoot. I rolled my eyes; I hoped she would see where I was coming with this soon, or else a small bite wound would be the least of my problems.

"Hedwig, look at me," I paused, waiting for her to face me again. "Hedwig, please, look at me!" I begged this time, when she didn't look at me the first time I'd asked. The begging must have finally gotten to her because she grudgingly turned back around, meeting my emerald eyes with her amber ones.

My expression softened once I saw the hurt and pain in her eyes. "Girl, the reason why you've got to leave is not because I don't want you with me. Because I do, I really, truly, do. The reason is people will undoubtedly notice you've gone missing and will look for you. I need to stay hidden from the Wizarding world, and that won't happen if a white owl, the very same owl that belongs to none other than Harry Potter, keeps disappearing to a place that belongs to a dead family. It will raise questions, and I don't have time, nor do I want the attention I will undoubtedly get if someone follows you and finds me."

Hedwig sent me a look that said, 'Tough luck, I still want to stay with you, and nothing you say will make me leave.'

I swore under my breath as I looked away from her. I was so not in the mood to argue with her!

"Look…" I began to say, petting her again. I was just about to start over again and tell her she needed to leave when she made a very odd noise that sounded to me like a growl. She did not want to leave me, and that was final! Nothing I could say to her would make her see the reason on why she had to go. I sat up in the chair, groaning. I ran my hands slowly over my face in defeat.

"Fine, you can stay," I surrendered to her. When she heard what I said, she responded by giving several, loud, cheerful hoots. "But you can't stray far from the property when you're looking for food. There's a forest at the edge of the property I'm sure you will find a lot of food in."

Hedwig gave me an owl version of a pout when I mention she couldn't go far for food. "Yes, you can fly around in the skies and go to London if you want, but you can't go a million times. Doing so will surely expose my identity to the Wizarding world before you could say, 'Owl treats.' Do you understand, Hedwig? You can follow my rules and stay with me, or you can just leave. It's your choice."

I could tell Hedwig didn't care for either of the options I had presented to her, but she knew she didn't want to leave me, not after she just located me. So she picked the first option.

I smiled at her choice. "Good girl, I'm so happy you are staying with me. I may not have been happy at first, but I was acting like that because I didn't want you to get hurt or expose my identity to the world. I know this will restrict you from flying wherever you want, but it's for your own good and mine," I murmured as I continued to pet her.

"However, if you're up to it, I have a letter I need delivered." The first part of that statement was obviously the wrong thing to say because I got another sharp peck and an angry hoot from Hedwig, who clearly was offended by my comment, "If you're up to it." When I sucked on my index finger where I was bitten, I wiped off the small amount of blood on my finger. After I pulled my finger out of my mouth, I checked on the small wound and saw it wasn't a bad one, similar to the first one I received when Hedwig had arrived.

I looked up and noticed Hedwig had her feathery back facing me, clearly still angry at me. After deciding it would be a wise choice to not pet her when she was still mad at me, I chose to speak to her instead. "I'm sorry, girl," I apologized to Hedwig. "I did not mean to offend you like that. I should have clarified my statement better. What I meant was: the journey is probably going to be long since you came all the way from Hogwarts to wherever I am, and you should probably rest before I send you out on another long journey."

Hedwig was still mad at me; however, not as much as before once I explained what I had meant. Even though she was still slightly angry at me, she accepted my apology and forgave me instantly. And she did agree to rest a while. I was happy to hear that because it gave me time to write the actual letter at my own pace, instead of hurrying and having Hedwig wait on me to give her the letter.

_Sunday, June 25, 1995_

_DearDobby,_

_As you probably already know from the other house elves or wizards, I've gone missing. Don't worry, I'm not hurt or in any kind of danger. I have a very good reason why I had to disappear, but I do not feel comfortable putting it in a letter. _

_Anyway, I'm writing to you because I was wondering if you would consider working for me. I know you like being a free house elf; however, I also know you love taking care of a house and family more than working at Hogwarts. I have a house – more like a mansion – that needs tending to by your superb skills, and I need a little bit of looking after. Not a lot, mind you, just someone who will make meals and clean the manor for me. Plus, I'm in great need of your skills in my life right now. Again, I won't tell you the reason why in this letter but only face to face. _

_I realize you probably enjoy working at Hogwarts with all of those house elves, and you might not want to move, but I sincerely hope you will think about this offer. If you rather work for Professor Dumbledore instead of me, then I completely understand. All you need to do is send me a letter telling me you can't accept the job, and that will be it. However, if you do want the job, please meet me at the Leaky Cauldron on July 1st, at 9:00 am. The meeting will take place in one of Tom's private rooms in the back of the pub. Please note, I will be in disguise until the meeting begins, so my identity won't be discovered by the public._

_ Please make sure Professor Dumbledore does not know where you're going. Just give him two weeks' notice of your leave and inform him you found a Wizarding family to look after, and you're meeting the family you'll be serving to before you begin work. _

_As for the pay, I'll gladly double what you're making now at Hogwarts as well as give you vacation now and then. Plus, you can wear whatever clothes you choose to, or you can wear clothes that have the Potters' crest on it. We can set the terms and pay if you accept the job later, if you do not approve of what I have already offered in this letter. _

_Thank you, Dobby, my friend._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

_P.S. Please burn this letter once you have read it._

I set down the quill I had found in one of the drawers in the kitchen – a very odd place in my opinion – and quickly read through what I had written. When a few minutes had passed, I was done reading and was satisfied with the wording of the letter. I found an envelope and addressed it to Dobby.

Then, I called Hedwig. When she came I said, "Here you go, girl. You need to take this letter to Hogwarts. It goes to Dobby, the house elf; he should be in the Hogwarts' kitchens somewhere. You don't need to wait for a reply. He should be meeting me at the Leaky Cauldron. You remember who he is?"

Hedwig rolled her eyes as she remembered all too well who Dobby was. I snickered and sent her on her way. I didn't remember when the meeting had happened, but I remembered Hedwig entering the Hogwarts kitchen as I was talking to Dobby. After I took the letter, I proceeded to introduced Hedwig to Dobby as he never met her before. If I recalled correctly, Hedwig didn't care for all of the colorful hats on his head or how excited he always was.

I knew this was somewhat risky, having the excitable house elf around me while I was hiding, but I felt the benefits far outweighed the risk.

Another thing was I could use wandless magic but was unable to use advanced spells because I didn't have enough experience or knowledge on the subject. So basically, I was vulnerable at the moment. However, seeing how Dobby protected me against Lucius Malfoy at the end of my second year, I felt confident at least Dobby could hold the Death Eaters or any other dark creature off me, while waiting for help.

However, I vowed silently to myself I would learn the advanced spells for either wand or no wand in a hasty fashion. I wanted to protect Dobby as well as myself. I did not want the event with Bellatrix Lestrange to recur again. Over my dead body would I allow that to happen!

I shook my head to push those thoughts away. For now, that was. When the time came, I would gladly face the problem, but for now, I was not going to worry about it.

After I finished up my wonderful breakfast, I took all of my dirty dishes and silverware and started washing them in the kitchen sink. When they were all dry, I placed the dishes and silverware back where I found them. I quickly cleaned up the kitchen table, counters, and stove before leaving the room in order to find the library.

* * *

><p>Dumbledore's reaction to Harry's letter will probably be shown in chapter 16. I don't know as of yet. I should also mention that the next two chapters will be Harry exploring more of Potter Manor and learning more about the Potters. As always, review please.<p> 


	9. Learning about Potter Manor

**A/N: I'm baack! Did you all miss me? Anyway, I decided to post this chapter early instead of posting it in the middle of the month like I usually do. **

**Now, I don't think there is anything I have to explain for this chapter. Only that I had to change some names around. I was going to used Harold and Emma as Harry's grandparents' names but it showed on the web that it was actually Charlus and Dorea. Anyway, in this chapter, Harry will learn about his home and a little bit about his family, the Potters. Don't hesitate to ask me a question if you're confused about something in the story.**

**This chapter was edited by my beta, Cartersdaughter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>

**Learning about Potter Manor**

**Sunday, June 25****th****, 1995**

**9:00 am**

An hour later and one floor up, I located the library. The library was at the end of the East Wing on the second floor. Directly in front of me stood tall, oak double-doors that took my breath away from the beauty of it. The doors were carved with all kinds of images of books and were in different designs across the surface. I grabbed both solid gold handles and swung the two doors open to reveal an awe inspiring site.

The room was painted a lovely, dark red with dark, cherry wood floors and two fireplaces; the ceiling was painted in amazing detail with the imagery of storybook characters. There were several floor -to-ceiling windows in the room that allowed the sun's rays to shine through, and large, enchanted paintings of landscapes hanged over the huge fireplaces. Elegant, iron chandeliers hanged from the ceiling, lighting the room with a soft glow of gorgeous, candles. There were beautiful, marble chess sets by each of the fireplaces, both wizards and Muggle. The huge windows in the room were paired off with heavy, dark, red, velvet curtains, which were pulled back.

And every available space on the four walls - that wasn't cover by a door, window, or fireplace - had a bookcase in front of it. Some of the windows were opposite of the double doors, so when you came in, the first thing you probably would see would be the huge windows. Second, if you were a bookworm like Hermione. The two fireplaces were placed on opposite ends of the rooms, forcing you to go to one side or the other for warmth or light instead of waking to the middle like the Gryffindor Common room.

The bookcases were made out of mahogany wood and reached the ceiling; holding millions of books that ranged in size, shape, color, and age. Half of the room was made up of ten, large square tables with comfortable, padded wooden chairs matching the color of the walls. In front of the doorway, which was where I was still standing, in the middle of the huge library were chairs, recliners, and couches; all of them looked so comfortable I could have slept right there instead of in my bed. From the size of the library, I would say it was bigger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The only thought that ran through my head at the time was, 'Hermione would seriously love this room.'

I took a few minutes to take in the magnificence of my surroundings as it wasn't fair not to in this kind of room. When I was done staring, I began to walk to the middle of the room. However, I didn't get very far because I was stopped in my tracks by an unfamiliar, womanly voice coming from somewhere behind me. "Who are you?"

I quickly spun around and saw the unidentified female was, in fact, a magical portrait hanging on the wall between the double doors and one of the many bookshelves. The portrait's frame was made out of gold with swirls carved all across it. The only word I could come up with for describing the portrait was elegant because that is just what it was: elegant. Next, I noticed the background of the portrait. While I had seen my fair share of magical portraits and their backgrounds in my life, none of them were even close to being similar to the one I saw in front of me. Nevertheless, being different wasn't always a bad thing nor was being odd. The portrait was, indeed, odd and incredibly different. The background looked like someone's library or den as there was a shelf with millions of books on it. I noticed a red, leather reading-chair, a big, oak desk, and a small reading lamp sitting upon the middle of the desk.

Finally, I saw who the feminine voice belong to. There, standing off to the side of the desk with her body half facing me and half facing the book shelf, stood an old woman with her hand in mid-air next to the shelf; obviously, she was about to pull a book from the shelf to read. In the Muggle world, children would say she was old. Yet in our world…in our world, folks would say she was young. Most witches and wizards could live up to 200 years without dying, unlike the folks in the Muggle world. The lady looked to be around Professor McGonagall's age. I knew how old Professor McGonagall was from a book I'd recently read that told everything about the current Hogwarts' staff. Well, almost everything was revealed about specific staff members. Only a few details were opted out of the book. However, the witch or wizard's name, age, and their blood statue were printed on the pages. I'm positive when I say if some of the Hogwarts' staff knew about that book, they would make certain to burn all of the copies.

Anyway, back to the woman. She looked around mid-seventies with long, blond hair that was turning white around the front. Her eyes were the shape of ovals and the color of chocolate. She had a thin frame with wrinkles covering her skin, most of them on her face. While she appeared to look stern with an attitude of no-nonsense, she had a small smile on her lips and mischief shining brightly in her eyes. I had a feeling we would get along swimmingly.

"Hello? Did you hear me, young man? I asked you a question," the lady's stern voice pulled me from my staring and brought me back to reality. I shook my head to clear it as I focused on the person in front of me.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am, for behaving so rudely towards you; I'm normally not disrespectful to folks. Though in my defense, I didn't see you when I entered, or else I would've talked to you. For that, I'm sorry," I apologized to the still unrecognized female. The woman's stern features softened then. She had a huge smile placed firmly on her lips with a slight blush forming on her cheeks.

"Ooh, a young man who has manners; you don't see that happening often in the younger generations now. Your parents taught you well," she complimented me.

Now, I was the one who was blushing as a wave of sadness overcame me when she mentioned my parents. "Yes, ma'am, I was taught to have manners but not from my parents. You see, my parents are dead. They died when I was one-year-old, so I never got the chance to get to know them," I said with melancholy dripping from my voice.

The woman's happy demeanor quickly turned to one of forlornness. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm sorry for bringing up such a painful topic," she apologized with a sincere and sympathetic tone.

I waved her comment away as I spoke, "It is okay, you obviously didn't know. I'd imagine you don't get much news around here, huh?"

"Indeed, I don't," she agreed sadly. "The only time I get news is when there's an owner around the manor."

"I see. Well, that's about to change because I'm now the new owner to this place. Oh, where are my manners? My name is Harry James Potter. It's nice to meet you…"I trailed off as the lady's identity was still unknown to me.

Instantly, she froze when I mentioned my name; the color in her face drained quickly as her body stiffened with tension. She was like this for only a few seconds before she relaxed, and the color came back into her face.

She smiled at me before saying, "Dorea, dear…my name is Dorea Violetta Potter. By chance, you wouldn't happen to be James Potter's son, would you? James and his wife, Lily, were going to name their firstborn son with that name, you see."

I was slightly confused at the unexpected turn in the conversation. Still, I replied in a cautious and unsure voice. "Yes, I'm the son of James and Lily Potter. May I ask why you're interested in that little fact?" I asked as my curiosity was brought to the surface of my mind. So many emotions were flying through me so fast I couldn't possibly name them.

The room was too quiet, for too long; curiosity and impatience were quickly bubbling to the surface by the second, and I was about to explode if I didn't get any answers soon. Dorea eyed me for a minute, cleared her throat, and opened her mouth to speak. "To answer your question: James is my son; therefore, that makes you my grandson in everything, including blood and name."

My eyes widened in surprise at hearing this woman in front of me was my grandmother. I knew she had to be a relative from the family tree, but I certainly wasn't expecting to hear she was my grandmother. Not that I had anything against Dorea. How could I, since today was the first time I had known about her and her relationship to me?

"Wow! I have never met, much less, talked to another relative before. The only relatives I know who are currently alive are my aunt, uncle, and cousin on my mother's side, and we don't get along very well," I sighed unhappily and shook my head.

Dorea stood up from her perch on the chair she had been sitting in since we started this conversation and turned around to reach for the book she was in the middle of getting when I came in.

"Wait!" An important question just came to me. Dorea once again stopped in mid action when I said the word 'wait,' and turned back around, a questioning look in her eyes. "If I may ask, what is your maiden name?"

I could clearly see the confusion in her eyes, but she answered me nevertheless. "My maiden name is Black."

Is this what it felt like to be in shock? Chest tight, breathless, (and not in a good way) rooted to the floor. If it was shock, then I wondered what you would call it in the past. I know I have been in shock before now, but I don't remember feeling like _this. _I knew I had seen the Black's family tree at Sirius' place in the original timeline, but I didn't think we were somehow related. I saw my newly identified grandmother's name on the tree, but I didn't think anything of it. And when she introduced herself, I thought it was a coincidence. I mean, there were probably several Doreas out in the Wizarding world, right?

However, hearing her maiden name was causing some doubts to bubble up inside me. There were just a few things that weren't adding up. For instance, if Sirius was family, why couldn't I live with him now he had a place to stay? Sure, Grimmauld Place wasn't exactly a vacation, but it would be worth living in a dark, dreary place if I had my godfather with me. I knew I had to live at Privet Drive because of the blood wards, but couldn't they be moved? So not only would I have a loving family growing up, but I would have my mother's protection as well as protection from Sirius.

Another thing, why didn't Sirius mention we were related to each other? I knew we didn't have much time to hang out and talk, but surely he could have said something when we were discussing his disownment from his family. Did he not want me to know? Could it be he was ashamed of me for not being more like my father than he realized? I remembered in the original timeline that Mrs. Weasley called him out on his little fantasy of having his best friend and brother back through me. Or could the reason for not telling me be because he was afraid of being killed if I or anyone else knew of our tie to each other?

Deciding this wasn't the right time to be thinking like this, I dropped it for now and asked a few more questions of my grandmother. "Does this mean that my godfather, Sirius Black, is related to me? If he is, what does that make him to me besides being my godfather?"

"Yes, you're related to your godfather. That would make him your third cousin," Dorea answered.

I was confused again. "How is that possible?"

She explained, "I'm your godfather's great Aunt as well as your grandmother. Which, in returned, makes your godfather your third cousin."

"Oh, I see." An old Wizard family clock hanged above one of the fireplaces just went off at that moment, reminding me to get back on topic. I wanted to know more about my new home, and while I would love to ask more questions about my Wizards relatives, who I never got to meet, I knew I had all the time in the world to find out those answers I seek. "Can you tell me about Potter Manor?" I inquired, restarting the conversation from earlier.

"Yes, I believe I can, Harry. You see, before I died and ended up here, I used to live here with my husband, your grandfather, Charlus Potter, for many years. While I was staying here, I made it my goal to know everything there was to know about this place. I can tell you anything you would like to know, be it about the history of Potter Manor or every crook and cranny there is," she paused for a second, so the information she had just given me could sink in before continuing. "Now, in return for this information, would you be kind enough to drop by sometime when you're not too busy and talk more about your parents and how they were killed?"

"I will be glad to, but I promise you, it won't be a pretty story to tell," I murmured.

She smiled sadly at me. "I'm afraid it never is," she agreed with me.

I nodded my head as I took another cursory glance around the room once again, trying to absorb the fact that this house, no, palace was indeed mine, and not someone else's like I had thought at first.

"So, Harry, what would you like to know first about Potter Manor?" Dorea questioned enthusiastically.

'Hmm, she sure is excited,' I thought to myself. 'I wondered if it's because she now has the chance to teach a new Head of the House or if she finally has someone to talk to. I wondered how long she's been alone for her to be that enthusiastic.'

I thought for a second, pondering what question I should ask. There were millions and millions flying in hyper speed inside my head.

"Where are we?"

"Potter Manor is located in Scotland and is right next to a Muggle village named Stirling. If the population rate hasn't changed since I was alive, which was eighteen years ago, the number would be about 33,710 people," she replied simply.

"Does that total include some witches and wizards too or is that just the Muggle population?"

"The Muggle population. If nothing big has changed around here, we should be the only wizards living here."

"You have been dead for eighteen years now?" When I received a nod, I continued. "When did you die, if I may ask?"

She had a sorrowful smile on her lovely face, "I died with your grandfather at the end of your father's Sixth year at Hogwarts in 1977. And before you ask," she spoke with slight amusement as I opened my mouth but closed it with a snap, "your grandfather and I died because we were betrayed by someone who we thought was a dear friend of ours. I don't know all the details at the moment. All I know is that our "'dear friend'" was a Death Eater who was spying on our family for Voldemort. He broke into our estate here at Potter Manor and started throwing spells at your grandfather and me. And, of course, we lost and died."

I swallowed hard. This was the first time someone told me such a large amount of information about my family, and I wasn't sure how I felt about hearing all of this. I thought it was odd. I was learning so much from someone who I had just found out is related to me, yet Sirius didn't have enough time to explain all of this, and I had known him since the end of my Third year. In addition, I found the circumstances of both my parents' and grandparents' deaths quite ironic. They both had similar fates. Both had a friend who they trusted with their lives, who turned out to be a Death Eater, spying on them for Voldemort. I guess the Muggle saying was true, "History does repeat itself."

"Whoa, no one has ever told me this story before. Did anybody else live here? Did my parents ever have house elves? Are there other portraits in the manor?" I asked quietly to my grandmother. I didn't know why I was whispering, just that the room gave off the sort of vibe that you had to be quiet; even though, the only ones here were Dorea and me.

Dorea didn't speak right away after I asked all of those questions. She merely raised her left eyebrow in an expression of puzzlement.

I blushed in embarrassment and lowered my head with a sheepish expression on my face when Dorea's gaze and expression didn't shift. Even though I didn't need to explain, I felt compelled to give a reason for my lack of knowledge. She knew I didn't grow up with my parents, but she didn't know I hadn't had any lessons required when I took up the position of Head of House.

"I'm sorry for bombarding you with all of these questions. You see, no one ever explained this to me until now. Which is why I have many questions and not a lot of answers," I admitted, raising my eyes to Dorea.

She nodded her head. "I see. I would like to talk about that later on, if you're agreeable to it."

I had this feeling if I didn't agree to this future meeting, I would regret it. So I accepted the invitation. Dorea then went back to answering my questions.

"Yes, your parents did live here in Potter Manor for a short time before moving to Godric's Hollow. At the time, I really didn't know why your folks left here, because Potter Manor has some excellent defense wards erected around the property. But I guess they thought Godric's Hollow was a better place than the manor. Now I can see why they wanted to move. If they were going into hiding, you don't want to live in a building named after you, do you? The defense wards weren't the problem, just the location. I mean, everyone in Wizard Britain basically knew where the Potters lived. So hiding at Potter Manor wasn't safe."

She paused for a second before continuing on. "Your parents had house elves working for them. They had eight of them. Unfortunately, all the house elves died of old age between the time of your parents' deaths and now. So, no, no one is currently living here," she answered honestly.

So there were no house elves here at the moment. 'Well, I'm really glad I sent a letter to Dobby then,' I thought happily. 'He could help me take care of the place. Instead of having to do it all by myself, which would take me forever since the manor is so big.'

Something Dorea had said a minute ago caught my interest, so I mentioned it to her. "If Potter Manor is so well fortified than how did your friend get onto the property and murder you?"

"Well, we had given free access to those we trusted with our lives and were great friends of ours. Those who weren't either of those two couldn't get onto the property without our permission. So it wasn't the wards fault but your grandfather's and mine."

I stood there in silence thinking about everything I'd learned so far. Then I looked at Dorea and said, "Who had lived here before I came?"

"As you already know, Potter Manor is an ancestral home of the Potter Family. Potter Manor used to belong to anyone with Potter ties. However, since your grandfather and I only had James and with all of the deaths during the war, the only Potter that was left at the time were your parents. And now with your parents gone, you are now the last remaining Potter and the master of the house. I feel I should also mention this isn't the first time you've been here."

"What do you mean this isn't the first time I've been here?" I questioned, genuinely confused now.

"Of course, you probably don't remember since you were only ten-months-old at the time. Your parents and you stayed here for a week because your mum and dad wanted to escape the war for the time being. At that time, the war was growing stronger and stronger by the day, and your parents were doing everything they could to try and protect you from harm," Gran – which I'd decided was her nickname from now on – paused to take a breath before carrying on. "Every generation of Potters has lived here from time to time, some longer than others. As I mentioned before, your parents had lived here once and so did your great-grandparents, Harold and Emma Potter. And others, including, my husband and me."

I nodded. "How did you know who I was when I first walked in? Other than my hair, I could've been a totally stranger. How did you know I was not an intruder?"

"I was shocked when I saw you come in, Harry," Gran admitted honestly. "I hadn't seen you since you were a baby, so I didn't recognize you immediately when you entered the room. But when you introduced yourself, I remembered you instantly. You have grown up a lot since then. Also only a Potter can enter this house. Furthermore, Potter Manor is under several charms and protections that make it safer than Hogwarts itself."

"Then how do guests enter Potter Manor? Can anybody other than a Potter get access to this place other than the two ways you said before?"

"Guests of the family can enter the manor when they are either escorted in by a member of the family, or one of the house elves that are serving the family. But the house elves can only escort a person into the building if he or she has been approved by a Potter beforehand. Guests only have to be escorted in the first time; they can come and go as they please afterwards," Gran informed calmly.

"So who were some of the recent guests in Potter Manor?" I inquired with interest showing in my eyes.

"The last visitors here at the house were some of your parent's friends from school. Order members and professors your parents were friends with arrived also. Those who came were: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout. Many more had stepped into this manor, but they were not recent visitors. The aforementioned witches and wizards cannot enter the house again without your permission because they have to be approved once again when a new Head of the Family comes along," Gran murmured.

"Oh. I can tell you what happened to those people after the war the next time I see you, if you would like?" I offered.

"I would love that," she replied.

"Great. Can you please tell me more about the manor itself?"

"Potter Manor sits on a property of approximately ninety acres of land. Twenty acres of the land is actually a forest with a small stream running through it. The manor has four floors if you include the basement. On the main floor of the West Wing, there is a large sitting room big enough to hold fifty people in it, along with a music room. There are also six guest bedrooms with their own bathrooms. On the East Wing, there are several empty and unused rooms, which you can use as you see fit. Those rooms are located next to an enormous kitchen, a fifty person dining room, a large ballroom, and a dueling room."

Gran took a breath before continuing on, "The second floor has a large sitting area with a balcony, along with four suites. Each suite has a common sitting room which is joined by six bedrooms and bathrooms. Two suites are on the West Wing and the other two are on the opposite wing. And of course, I can't forget the library. As you already realized, the library is on this floor and is on the East Wing, close to two other suites. The Potter family used this library as well as their guests."

Gran paused once again, "The third floor is usually reserved only for the Potter family. But those who aren't a Potter can still have access to the floor. It has the master bedroom and five other bedrooms. Every bedroom has its own private bathroom, and the bedrooms can change to accommodate the occupant. Moreover, the third floor has a large library dedicated to the Potter family history. There you will find extremely rare books the family kept aside, so they wouldn't be destroyed or tampered with. The library likewise houses some of the Potter Family spells developed over the years."

My eyes widened to the size of plates as I listened to the long description of the manor, and I had a feeling there was much, much more to go through. There were so many questions I was itching to ask while Gran was listing off the rooms and properties of Potter Manor that all the questions were becoming jumbled and blurry. Nevertheless, there was one significant question that popped into my head and wouldn't leave until I voiced said question. "What's in the basement?" I asked.

Gran explained, "The basement houses a holding chamber for prisoners. For example, say a wizard just came home from a day of shopping. Unknown at the time, a bug – who happened to be a witch with an animagus form of a bug – snuck into the wizard's shopping bag. Her intentions were to get inside Potter Manor, and the only way she saw her plan working was to hide in the bag. However, once the wizard stepped foot on the grounds, the wards informed him of the uninvited guest, which then instantly sent her to the holding chamber."

I became pale during the time Gran was explaining about the holding cells. Unwanted memories of being locked in one of those cells at Malfoy Manor while Hermione was being tortured upstairs flashed in front of my mind's eye. A shiver that had nothing to do with being cold ran down my spine. I shook my head quickly to get rid of those dark memories; knowing more would soon be coming along in the near future.

"Please tell me it's not a torture chamber," I choked out, still extremely pale at the mention of the word "holding chamber."

"Relax, Harry, it's not what you're thinking," Gran reassured me with her gentle words and kind smile. "The chamber is only a holding area for observation and interrogation."

"Is there anything else in the basement?"

"Yes, there is. It houses an enormous Potions' lab that rivals the ones at Hogwarts. The Potions' lab is equipped with the equivalent of seven Hogwarts' Potions' stock and will automatically refill any potion it is not stocked full of."

"Is there anything else important I should know about the manor?" I inquired, raising a single eyebrow at Gran.

Gran had a thoughtful expression on her face for a minute before it transformed into something else I couldn't describe. "I believe there are two full-size Qudditch fields behind the manor that are equipped with the hoops and balls. You also have a patio that comes with outdoor furnishings, fireplace, and grill. There is a beautiful, modern-size, food and flower gardens that generations of Potter women helped grow and tend to. Finally, you have a huge, Muggle swimming pool complete with a diving board and slide, and a big plot of land that is unused and open space."

"Why do we have so much Muggle stuff in and around the manor? I thought the Potter family was Pureblood. Also does the library have Muggle books in addition to Wizarding books?"

"Yes, it's true the Potter family is Pureblood, so we didn't know anything about Muggles. However, one of our dear friends who was a squib knew quite a bit about them and helped up install several Muggle items on the property. There are several reasons why we have Muggle items. The first is because your grandfather had an interest in them. The second was in case of survival. If a Potter ever ventured into Muggle London and got lost, he or she would know how to use some of the items from here that are used in daily life. And we do have Muggle books along with the Wizarding ones."

"What about animals? Are there any on or around the property?"

Gran replied, "Indeed, there are animals on and around the property. And, yes, there are animals living in the forest. There are many animals around here but only four animals enter onto the land. Not that the other animals are afraid to walk on the grounds; just that they prefer not to. As I said before when I mentioned the holding cell, the wards will stop any animal if they are discovered to be a witch or wizard. We placed an animagus detector in the wards once witches and wizards found out they could change into animals and back. Just as a safety precaution."

I was confused now. "Then how did my owl get passed the wards? She's not a witch or wizard, but I would have thought I would have to grant her access to the property for her to pass through."

Gran thought for a minute, "Hmmm. The only thing I can think of is the wards must have somehow recognized your owl as yours and allowed her to pass through, sensing no danger from her."

"Who, or should I say, what are the four animals?"

Gran didn't reply. Instead, she held up her hand in the portrait and yelled, "Summon!"

Three beautiful birds flew down to me from one of the windows in the library. Nevertheless, these stunning birds weren't the only ones because a land animal appeared out of nowhere and came rushing forward as fast as it could. The land animal that reached me jumped up into my arms. It was a baby kitten with light colored orange fur and dark, black strips running across its back.

Gran said, "The kitten's name is Tiger, because of the color of his fur. Although he may not look like it, Tiger is a magical creature. Thus, he has a magical ability. He can disappear to another place similar to using a portkey with the ability of taking somebody with him."

I gently stroked Tiger behind his neck and spoke, "It's nice to meet you, Tiger." Tiger jumped down from my arms and disappeared into thin air. Involuntarily, I jerk back from the surprise before walking back up to stroke Tiger, who had appeared back in the room in the same spot he was before he left.

Tiger rubbed against my leg affectionately. I continued to pet and rub Tiger while two of the birds landed on Tiger. The third bird landed on the back of an armchair close by. There were two owls and a phoenix, all were different colored. I turned to the three birds and petted each one of them in turn.

The first owl had the same colors as Fawkes with his gold and red feathers. The second owl had black feathers with dark blue feather ends. The phoenix that was on the back of the armchair had midnight blue feathers that looked like the night sky along with white feather ends. Gran pointed at each bird as she spoke each of their names, "The gold and red owl's name is Sunrise, the black and blue owl's name is Midnight, the dark blue and white phoenix's name is Nightlight."

"Hi, Sunrise, Midnight, and Nightlight; how are all of you?" I asked with a big bright smile growing on my face. The smile was so big it reached the tips of both of my ears. As my face lit up with happiness, my hand continued to pet all three birds. Sunrise and Midnight nodded their heads and gave a peaceful chirp then flew out the window, heading off to their respective nests I assumed. Nightlight flew onto my shoulder while Tiger continued to brush against my leg.

Gran explained, "Don't worry about Sunrise and Midnight; they prefer to stay hidden and will show up immediately if they sense you're in danger, or if you just want them for something. As for Nightlight and Tiger, they will probably want to follow you everywhere you go. Nightlight will probably follow you to Hogwarts and stay out of sight, but Tiger is more than likely going to follow you everywhere. The two of them are very protective of the Potter family."

"I see," I murmured quietly. "Can you tell me about the dueling room?"

Gran nodded her head, "Of course. The dueling room has been charmed to accommodate the fighter's abilities, so they are not completely overwhelmed but don't have such an easy time. The dummies along the wall will be the dueling partners, and the books in the libraries will help teach you fresh skills. If there is any difficulty, the dummies can show you how to perform something. This is mainly for hand-to-hand combat, though. I'm afraid they cannot show you how to perform a spell. I should point out the room is fully padded on all four walls and the floor for any falls you should have. Furthermore, the room has a shield surrounding the area inside and out to protect others from any wayward spells. On one wall, you will see all kinds of weapons. On another wall, you will see a huge window, which is in a room we like to call the viewing room. You can have someone watch you train without them getting hurt by having them observe in the viewing room."

"That's good to know. Thank you for telling me," I spoke with sincerity laced in my voice. "Is that everything I need to know?"

"Yes, I believe so. If there is something I forgot, I will tell you the next time I see you," she paused for breath before continuing. "If I'm correct, you should have another two hours before lunch time rolls around. Why don't you go explore the manor? You should have enough time if you start now. Whatever you haven't seen yet, you can always continue after lunch is over."

"Sounds good," I agreed. I turned around and headed to the door but stopped before I reached the doorway. I spun around to face Gran once more as I said, "Thank you for telling me about the manor; you have been a big help to me. I will come back and visit you as often as I can; I promise."

Gran just waved my comment aside like you would with a fly. "No thanks are necessary. After all, it's my job to informed new masters about Potter Manor. I'm happy I could help. As for visiting me, please do so when you're able to. I could use the company since it can be quite lonely here. Now, go explore or else you won't have time before lunch."

I nodded before walking out the door and going down a hallway.

It was time to explore Potter Manor, and I couldn't wait to see all of the rooms.

* * *

><p>AN: You all know the drill. Send me a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter.


	10. Discovering My Home

**A/N: **What do you know, I updated finally. Yay! Sorry for taking so long. I thought my beta left me in April since I never heard back from her, but when I was in the process of looking for another, she contacted me. Long story short, the last chapter she edited was Chapter Four of this story, so we had to go back and edit chapters 5-9. Speaking of editing, this chapter is partly edit. Meaning my beta has seen it once but I'm waiting for her to go through it the second and final time. However, you all have been waiting for far too long, so I'm going to update now instead of waiting for her.

To MuggleCreator: The Blacks might be James' cousins but Dorea Potter nee Black and Harold is his Mum and Dad.

To Twilight lovers: Please go to my profile and participate in my poll I'm currently running. I would at least like to have 100 votes (only need 75 to complete goal) or 100% in one of the options before taking the poll down. Thanks.

This chapter was partially edited by cartersdaughter.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

**Discovering My Home**

**Sunday, June 25, 1995**

**10:45 am**

When I began my exploration of Potter Manor, I decided to start on the very top floor and make my way down to the basement. I had figured out quickly at Number 12 Grimmauld Place that walking up several long flights of stairs was absolutely no fun, and could wear you out extremely. Not to mention, quite fast. So with that unpleasant experience in mind, I had no wish for a repeat. So I thought out a plan of action and swiftly came up with this. I would begin my tour of the manor with the third floor and make my way down to the lower levels.

I exited the library and strolled to the start of the hallway. Once there, I found the stairs that would take me up to the bedrooms reserved only for the Potter family. The floor was also supposed to include: bathrooms, sitting rooms, and a second large library. Two minutes later, I was at the top of the stairs and at the entrance of the long, wide hallway. Choosing the first door on the right in the East wing, I opened the door and entered. I soon found out the room was a Master bedroom for the Head of the House.

The bedroom was the most luxurious I'd ever been in. A large king-sized sleigh bed was in the middle of the room, and when I went over and laid down, I found out the white satin sheets and pillows dyed in royal blue were comfortable. It wasn't a four-poster bed like I was used to. Then again, I was glad, as I was getting tired of them. The furniture was made of oak and was all oversized for comfort. I heard a trivial conversation in the past when I was growing up with my relatives. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were discussing how Muggle furniture factories were making their chairs and couches overstuff because it brings more comfort and softness to the person who was sitting. How the Wizards knew this method, I don't know.

There was a large dresser, two night tables, a full-sized dressing mirror, and two chaise lounges off in a corner with a small table between them.

The walls held no paintings or portraits which I was extremely grateful for. I did not want someone seeing me get dressed every morning. The room was painted in a creamy white and royal blue; it was designed with intersecting square panels, giving the walls a three-dimensional look to them. The ground was covered in oak flooring. To compliment with the oak floorboards, there was a plush, cream-colored rug in front of the small fireplace. The fireplace was only for atmosphere and warmth. The hearth wasn't large enough to floo from but could be used to fire-talk.

As I saw earlier in the library below, the bedroom had a couple of floor-to-ceiling windows around the room. I noticed a big, glass, sliding door leading out to a beautiful balcony.

Next to the dressing mirror was a bi-fold door I assumed was the closet. I was proved correct. It was a walk-in closet and was double the size of my room at Privet Drive. There wasn't much in the storage space, just a dozen or so empty hangers.

I turned around and exited the closet back into the Master bedroom. I spotted another door which surprised me as I hadn't seen it when I first came in. I crossed over and opened it. It opened into an enormous, stunning bathroom. The lavatory wasn't as fancy as the Prefect bathroom I'd been in this year, but it was somewhat close. It was half the size of the library I had been in earlier today, and was just as useful as any restroom. The whole room was decorated in cream-colored marble and royal blue stone, with stainless steel fixtures and accessories. Two sinks were located side-by-side in a granite countertop along one wall. A mirror was placed behind the vanity, and I was really pleased it wasn't a Wizarding one.

'Thank Merlin,' I thought as a sigh of relief escaped from my lips. 'I really don't want an audience or someone talking to me when I'm naked like a Wizarding mirror does at school.' Next to the sink was the toilet. The toilet was done simply and tastefully.

An impressive vanilla marble size tub - big enough for two - was in the back corner of the room, and I noticed water jets surrounding it. I instantly recognized the jets as belonging to a Muggle hot tub, and I became excited about the first bath I'd be taking in it. The bathtub didn't have as many spigots as the Prefect's bath but more than a Muggle tub. However, there were at least a dozen others besides the standard hot and cold taps. Doing a hasty experiment told me they offered a variety of pleasantly-scented foams and bath oils.

Next to the tub was a shower stall incased in frosted glass. I stepped inside stall and tried to peer through the glass, but couldn't see a thing. I observed my surroundings and saw three adjustable shower heads all attached to the single water control dial. The shower heads were all at acceptable height, just a foot above me. Though, I could have fixed the shower heads at whatever height since it was adaptable.

Furthermore, I spotted a small shelf in the marble wall to hold soap, shampoo, conditioner, and hair potions. A single, silver towel rack was placed on the short wall between the tub and the shower. I think I found the fluffiest towels I'd ever laid my hands on hanging from the rack. 'This towel doesn't even compete with the ones at Hogwarts,' I mused absentminded as I rubbed my left check against the soft material.

As I stepped out of the shower stall, I slowly took in every detail of the bathroom. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I own all this. Sure, I seen some extravagance items at Hogwarts, but seeing the objects never affected me in inspiring awe as I'm right now. The reason is those items at school didn't belonged to me. But the objects in this room and the whole manor do belong to me.

The balcony was made of gray stone and was extravagant like everything else. It was facing the backyard and over looked the pool and Quidditch pitches. There were comfortable lawn chairs and tables to sit at placed facing outward.

The five other bedrooms spread out on the same floor were basically the same as the Master bedroom. The only difference was the others rooms weren't as large or luxurious. The family bedrooms were each crafted in a different color. One room was done is gold, another in green, the third in purple, another in azure blue and the fifth in red.

All the furniture except the beds were all made out of the same type of woods and wrought iron; however, each also had its own unique style. Each bedroom contained a different style of bed than the others. Some beds had wooden frames and headboards, some had wrought iron, and some just had both. One bedroom contained a four poster bed, another had matching bunk beds, the third had a queen-size box bed, the fourth was a double platform bed, and the fifth had a chest bed.

The linens, rugs, and towels for the bathrooms matched the colors of their respective bedrooms. The five bedrooms and baths all had the same layout, so there wasn't anything different between them and the Master.

After observing a few of the bedrooms in the West wing, my next stop was the Potter Family Library, or the "second library", as a nickname I just came up with. The location was on the left side of the hallway, at the very end. The room was paneled in cherry wood which matched all the furniture and flooring. The study tables were big enough and well spaced to provide an ideal studying environment and the chairs were comfortable for those long study or reading sessions. There were dozens of shelves around the room that touched the ceiling and floor around the room. None of the numerous bookshelves in the library were empty; each one held dozens of books on one shelf. I made a mental note to myself to find out the total number of books in this library later on. I was curious to know the answer. I saw there were no wizard portraits or other distractions of any kind. Not even Hogwart's library could claim that. Of course, I saw many windows, lamps, and non-moving paintings in various places around the room. All in all, I was eager to get started reading some of these books in here.

With the third floor completed, I moved down to the second. I knew when I stepped on the next floor there wasn't much to see. I remember Gran explaining to me earlier in the main library there were four suits on this floor, each holding six bedrooms. I shortly found out two suits were located on the right and left side of the East Wing and two were found on the West wing which where across from each other.

The bedrooms were basically the same as the ones above; the only difference was the color scheme and the flooring. When I finished looking at the bedrooms, I saw all the colors of the rainbow and many other colors - which I didn't know the names of - had been used in the rooms.

The only new area I saw on the second floor was the sitting rooms and luckily I didn't have to go very far to see them. Each suit had its own sitting room and so I stepped inside one in the West wing on the left side.

Opening the door, I was suddenly greeted with a comfortable living room. To the left of the door, there was a grey brick fireplace huge enough for travel, though; it was only set for fire-talking, not flooing. In front of the fireplace was a mahogany coffee table surrounded by several cozy chairs and a few sofas. Several paintings of beautiful landscapes decorated the walls in the room. The walls were painted in a light whitish-blue color which matched the mahogany wooden floor and furniture. I was awestruck at the amazing landscapes in the paintings, and if I had the ability, I would stay there staring at those images all day. They were truly astonishing to glazed at.

I stepped out of the room to take a small peak at the other sitting rooms on this floor. However, I wasn't expecting anything different from the one I'd just saw. I was correct in that assumption. The only differences were: the colors of the walls, the type of flooring, and wood which was used.

Since I'd already seen the library on the second floor, I saw no reason to enter. Instead, I skipped the room at the end of the hall in the East wing and continued my exploration of the manor.

My next stop was the main floor starting with the West wing. I headed down the stairs and stopped in front of the first door on the right in the said wing. Once I stepped inside the room, I found out it was the sitting room, which I was told by Gran, could sit up to fifty people at once. The room was very welcoming and warm looking. All of the loveseats, sofas, and armchairs were made out of dark brown leather and were nicely arranged around various places in the room. I ran my hand over the leathery material of one of the armchairs and discovered the fabric was nice and smooth to the touch.

In the center of the room, I noticed a low, square coffee table made out of light-colored maple wood. However, the coffee table wasn't the only piece of furniture I spotted in the middle of the room. Just like in the Gryffindor Common room, I saw several matching tables and oh-so comfortable chairs. All the chairs at Gryffindor Common room were comfortable, so if the red fabric covered chairs here were close copies to the house of lions, it should be comfortable as well. However, just to make sure I was correct; I sat in one of the chairs. As my bottom touched the furniture, I sighed in contentment. The chair was indeed comfortable!

There was a small cabinet against one wall. When I opened it, I found another Wizard's chess board (I located its twin in the main library), Muggle and Wizarding board games, playing cards, and a few other games I wasn't familiar with. Like the tables, the cabinet matched with the same color and wood as the furniture. A similar giant fireplace was against the wall parallel to the one it was facing, though the bricks were tan instead of red or gray like the others. Unlike the other fireplaces in the manor, this one could be used for fire-talking _and _flooing. This fireplace would be the only one in the mansion (unless I added one in the entrance hall sometime in the future) that would have the option to floo in or out of the building. Still, the witch or wizard could only floo into this room once she or he knew the address and was invited to the mansion. They could not travel through the fireplace to Potter Manor if either aforementioned pieces of information were not given.

A chocolate, plush rug covered the wooden hearth of the fireplace and additional ones of the similar kind in various places in the room. There were only three tapestries on the walls, which took up the whole wall. The first was a large landscape that showed rolling hills and a small stream passing by a little cottage.

The second tapestry was a large family portrait, showing a family of 14, representing at least four generations. I wasn't sure who the people were, but every male had unruly dark hair, so I assumed it was some of my long-distance relatives. These relatives were old and in the past so I never had the chance to meet them.

The third tapestry was the Potter family tapestry. Just like the one Sirius had at Grimmauld Place, it was a large family tree that dated back generations. I spent a few brief minutes going over it and found myself, my parents, and my grandparents.

Unlike the Black family tapestry though, the Potters fortunately hadn't married traditionally dark families. I recognized a few other surnames, but I wasn't surprised by the fact the Potters were always on the side of the light. They also seemed to have no problem intermarrying with Muggles. Although the last direct male descendants were all full-blooded wizards, I noticed many distant cousins, uncles, and aunts who came from mixed marriages.

Across the hall from the sitting room was the music room. As soon as I entered the room, I noticed the room was filled with all the musical instruments you could possibly think of. There were a few drums sets – all in different sizes and types –placed in the far left corner next to a group of harps. In the opposite corner sat the brass section, which had a massive tuba in the center of the trumpets, trombone, and other instruments in that family. The guitars – again in all different sizes, types, and colors – were leaning against the wall of the third corner of the room. The rest of the instruments that couldn't fit in the three corners, were either placed or held on the remaining space between the corners. The instruments had been lined up against the wall, leaving a large space in the middle. However, there was one instrument that filling up most of the remaining space. That instrument was a beautiful, polished, black grand piano.

I slowly walked over to the magnificent instrument, and I ran a loving hand gently across the top of it. I moved my hand slowly from the piano and let it hang by my side. I don't know how to play the piano but I always wanted to learn. It was the same with the guitar. I saw them both being played on a television screen when I was taken along shopping with my aunt and cousin once and I fell in love with both instruments. The reason I was so emotional all of the sudden is the thought of one of my relatives on my Dad's side playing the piano. It was another connection I would have to a family I would never know if I was able to play the huge instrument.

I turned my head slightly to the left, and my eyes zoomed to the black-covered wooden bench. I moved to the front of it before bending down slightly. I placed my hands between the slightly bigger top and the side of the bench, and I allowed them to stay there for a minute. I lightly trailed my fingers over the grains of the wood before grabbing the top and giving it a slight tug upwards.

The lid opened and what I saw revealed made my eyes widen, my heart pound, and left me breathless. There, lying innocently in the piano bench was a black leather-bound notebook with something scrawled in loopy gold writing across the front. I ran my fingers lightly over the signature as complete disbelief continued to flash through me. The reason why I was so surprised was the name **Lily Ann Evans**was written on the top. The name was mostly faded but there was my mother's name, clear as day.

I slowly reached into the piano bench with both of my hands and carefully gripped the small but surprisingly thick book. My eyes, still as big as dinner plates, stared down at the cracking leather. I gently picked it up and brought it out of its hiding spot. Unknowingly, my body moved without my consent from the crouched position - which I was still in - to sitting Indian style on the hard floor.

I slid one of my hands down the front of the book while the other hand had a careful hold on the item. I slowly moved the hand that wasn't holding the journal-looking book and began to gently open the cover. My hands were shaking violently as the book's content was slowly revealed to me, a wave of anticipation washing over me the whole time. 'This was my mother's!'I thought in happiness. Excitement was quickly rising to the surface, eager to show itself to the world as well as the nervousness. 'I have never really seen something my mum actually owned, that she touched!'

I was expecting the book to be difficult to open since it was old and had dirt caked around the spine. Amazingly, it wasn't as I soon discovered as I slowly and gently open the item. When the content of the book was fully in view, a loud gasp escaped me. I had been expecting this book to simply be a journal, hidden for safe keeping away from prying eyes. Instead, I saw the slightly crooked script of what looked like song lyrics.

_Is this a dream?_

_If it is,_

_Please don't wake me from this high_

_I've become comfortably numb_

_Until you opened up my eyes_

_To what it's like_

_When everything's right_

_I can't believe_

_You found me_

_When no one else was lookin'_

_How did you know just where I would be?_

_Yeah, you broke through_

_All of my confusion_

_The ups and the downs_

_And you still didn't leave_

_I guess that you saw what nobody could see_

_You found me_

_You found me_

_So, here we are_

_That's pretty far_

_When you think of where we've been_

_No going back_

_I'm fading out_

_All that has faded me within_

_You're by my side_

_Now everything's fine_

_I can't believe_

_You found me_

_When no one else was lookin'_

_How did you know just where I would be?_

_Yeah, you broke through_

_All of my confusion_

_The ups and the downs_

_And you still didn't leave_

_I guess that you saw what nobody could see_

_You found me_

_You found me_

_And I was hiding_

_'Til you came along_

_And showed me where I belong_

_You found me_

_When no one else was lookin'_

_How did you know?_

_How did you know?_

_You found me_

_When no one else was lookin'_

_How did you know just where I would be?_

_Yeah, you broke through_

_All of my confusion_

_The ups and the downs_

_And you still didn't leave_

_I guess that you saw what nobody could see_

_You found me_

_You found me_

_(You found me)_

_(When no one else was lookin')_

_You found me_

_(How did you know just where I would be?)_

_You broke through_

_All of my confusion_

_The ups and the downs_

_And you still didn't leave_

_I guess that you saw what nobody could see_

_The good and the bad_

_And the things in between_

_You found me _

_You found me_

A big smile grew on my face as I finished reading the last lines of the first song in the book. An unexpected feeling of both sadness and warmth grew in my chest instantly. 'Did my mum really write this?'

The next page I turned to held the notes to the first song. As I continued to flip through the book with gentle and careful hands, my eyes steadily widened as I saw nearly every page was filled with lyrics and music notes.

The sorrowful feeling from before began to fade just a tiny bit as I continued to read my mother's songs. I sighed heavily as I replaced the notes in the pages of the book and put the item back where I first found it. I still had to finish the tour of the manor, and I did not want to bring something of my mother's with me in case it would get damaged or destroyed. I quickly decided I would come back for it after my exploration of the building, and I would finish reading the song book before bedtime.

So with another heavy sigh, I stood up and moved to the piano bench. I closed the top of it, and I took a few steps back. I took another glance around the room, and that was when I noticed what kind of flooring and walls were in here. The walls were painted in a beautiful lilac color while the floor was covered in cherry wood. Small windows - which limited the amount of sunlight coming in - and a small Muggle clock were placed in any available spot there was in the room.

With one last look around the room, I turned around and went back into the hallway. The three doors further down the hallway on each side lead to more guestrooms. I didn't do much searching of these rooms as I knew they were basically the same as the ones upstairs. So after taking a small peak into the rooms, I closed the doors and retraced my steps because I was at the end of the West wing.

While I made my trip to the East wing, I thought about all of the rooms I had seen already. 'I can't believe this…this place is owned by my family?' I thought in awe. 'Is this truly mine? Or is this a dream where I will wake up and find myself sleeping in either the Hospital Wing or my dorm room at Hogwarts?'

I must have been pretty deep in my thoughts because when I came out of them, I found myself in front of the first door on the left in the East wing. I reached out with my hand and grasped the door knob, turning it, and pushing lightly so the door would open. There wasn't much to see behind the door, just a huge empty room.

To some people, seeing an empty room with small windows wasn't a big deal. However, to me, I saw many plans being made for this room in my mind, and the final results were going to be amazing. I immediately decided this room would be my "Muggle room", or "play room" as I would come to call it. It might be empty right now, but I had plans to put everything that was fun and was a Muggle item inside. Items I was never allowed to touched or have fun with. I knew right away I wanted a large television, stereo, and video game system, but otherwise, didn't have any more ideas for the room.

Since I decided on how I wanted to use the Muggle room and what entertain I wanted, more items were rapidly coming forward. I was so eager to get started on the room I was fighting the urged to jump up and down. 'Yes, the Muggle room will definitely be the first room I plan on working on,' I thought excitedly as my eyes lit up in happiness.

The next door along the left side, I had no plans for it other than it could be used for storage.

The last door on the left side of the hallway was another empty room, only this time it was quite a bit larger than the rest I had seen earlier. I picked this room to be the personal quarters for Dobby and any other future house elves I would ask to work for the family. I don't know why I was giving this huge room to Dobby since I didn't want to own an army of house elves like the Malfoys or Hogwarts. From what Gran mention earlier during our discussed about Potter Manor, the Potter family used to owned several house elves, so this room or another close by to the kitchens might have been their quarters. Again I felt happiness flow through me as I began planning on how I wanted to decorate the room.

Along the opposite wall were four more empty rooms; only this time these rooms were smaller than the others. Each of the rooms was half the width of the space between the East and West hallways, and the four small rooms were pushed back towards the North side of the building.

Walking into the first room on the right, I immediately saw a large curtain hanging off to the side. When I pulled it back to see what was behind it and why it was there, I found out the heavy curtain was dividing the room in two smaller ones. Surprise and happy at this new discovery, I quickly named the two rooms: the Hospital wing. The room without the divider was a little bigger but not by much. Since I didn't plan on having thirty injured people in the room, size wasn't a problem. Furthermore, I noticed the room was well lit with several large windows with equal space between them. There are two reasons why I decided to have a hospital wing in the manor. One, if I was injured, no one but a Potter or adopted family member could have access to the bedrooms on the third floor. Two, if for some reason my friends and family were ever in a battle with me in the future and Hogwarts was too far away, Potter Manor would be the place to get medical treatment. Of course it's depends on your location. Plus, if there were more than one injury or if the injury were difficult to treat, St. Mungo might be the best place to go instead. The idea of having the hospital wing was just a way to be prepare in the future in case someone would need medical treatment.

The third room - which was on the opposite side of the elves' personal quarters - was going to be a nice sized laundry. I estimated plenty of room for one of those Muggle washer/dryer combinations I had seen in stores at Little Whinging with enough room left over for some cabinets. There was still enough space for a slop sink to deal with messy clean-ups, a broom cupboard for mops and brooms, and a clothes line for hanging clothes to dry. Living with my aunt all these years and helping her with the laundry had taught me not all things could be machine washed.

The fourth and final empty room along the right side of the East wing, I had no ideas coming to mind of yet, so I decided I would leave this room empty. I would come back and change this room later on in the future if I needed to.

Crossing back over to the left side of the hallway, I opened the door next to the elves' personal chamber which turned out to be the kitchen. Since I already seen the kitchen, I left the room a minute after I entered the room.

Leaving the kitchen, I went next door and saw a fifty person dining area. Nothing exciting was found in this room. Both the floor and walls were done in maple as well as the long table and cabinets. The chairs were made out of metal with fabric covers the same color as the walls. At both ends of the table, there were thrones – like chairs you only see royals sit on.

'The bigger chairs must be where the Lord and Lady of the family sit,'I mused. Of course, there were beautiful, iron chandeliers which hung from the ceiling lighting the room with a soft glow with gorgeous, large candles. The chandeliers even matched the floor-to-ceiling windows that were around the room.

Similar to the dining room, the ballroom wasn't as thrilling as the kitchen was. It had all the things you normally would see in a ballroom. A large dance floor was placed in the middle with dozens of tables and chairs off to the sides. Large chandeliers hung from the roof and floor-to-ceilings windows were placed all over.

Not long after, I found myself in my favorite room out of the whole house. Guess which room that was? Yes, you're right; the Dueling chamber.

I stepped in the room and right away noticed the huge window on the left side wall. When I walked closer, I realized could not see through it to see what was on the other side, even when I cupped my hands around my eyes. I assumed the window was a one-way mirror, and on the other side was a small sitting room. Ever the curious person, I wanted to see the other room and see if I could look through the mirror on that side. So I began to search the area for an entrance to the room. I spotted one several feet away, and I moved towards it.

When I entered the room on the other side of the mirror, I saw several comfortable-looking reading chairs and sofas facing the window and the Dueling room. There were numerous end tables around, and I even saw a small white fridge set off to the side. As I looked around, I saw the appliance was empty of any food or drinks. I made a mental note to stock it when I had time.

Heading back to the training room, I instantly fell in love with the room. It held everything I could have imagined I'd need and more. The Dueling chambers offered various types of handheld weapons along the wall opposite of the window. The swords, staffs, fighting knives, plus other weapons all came in several types and sizes. I also saw several life-size dummies lining the wall opposite of the door. The figures were all hanging on the walls by hooks placed under their arms. Furthermore, I spotted large instruction manuals on a small shelf next to the weapons. However, I didn't have the time nor did I want to read them right now.

Taking one glance at the floor and walls, it seemed to me like they weren't charmed to cushion a hard fall. But when I stepped on or touched them normally, I could feel a slight difference. Right away, I knew there were charms to prevent injury. The cushioning felt more like a Muggle gym mat than a soft bed.

Finally, I walked onto the dueling platform across the room. The platform looked similar to the one I'd seen in the Great Hall in my Second year. It wasn't high at all but was clearly marked off on the floor, and I saw the space could be used in multiple ways. The room was truly amazing, and I couldn't wait to try out a few spells on the dummies.

I decided I really wasn't interested in seeing the holding chamber or the Potions lab, as I knew what they looked like from Malfroy Manor and Hogwarts. Glancing up at the clock on the wall, I saw I had ten minutes before lunch. Once I found out that piece of little information, my stomach decided to inform me it was hungry. I took one last peak around the room before turning around and leaving. My next destination was to head up to the bathroom connecting to my room to washed up for lunch.

Once lunch was finished, I would begin my plans on destroying the rest of Voldemort's Horcruxes.

* * *

><p>AN: You all know the drill. Send me a review and tell me what you thought of the chapter. Constructive advice is welcome but please be nice. I won't tell you when the next chapter will be up since I obviously can't keep my promises. Just know the next chapter will be update before seven months. While you, my dear readers, are waiting, why don't you go back through Chapters 5-9 and read what I added. If you don't want to read all of them, I would strongly suggest you at least read Chapter Nine since there is a lot of stuff I added when it was being corrected. Next chapter, we will find out how everyone died (both canon and non).


	11. Nightmares, List, and Letter

**A/N: **I should be working on two projects for my finals at college, but I decided to proofread the chapter and post it for you all. I'm not really happy with this chapter, especially the nightmare scenes. Writing the memories/nightmares was difficult since it was my first time doing something like that. I had to rewrite it several times before I was somewhat satisfied with what I have. Btw, the text that isn't in italic in the nightmare is narration by Harry. Oh, and the rest of the chapter will explain the items on the list that Harry comes up with.

This chapter haven't been seen by my editor yet, so I'm sure there are millions of errors in it. If you would be so kind and point them out for me while I wait for my beta, I would be grateful. Just be kind, please.

Obviously, I don't own Harry Potter or else I wouldn't be on this site since I would be too busy with writing and such.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eleven<strong>

**Nightmares, List, and Letter**

**Sunday, June 25, 1995**

**1:30 pm**

After a fulfilling meal, I rose from the kitchen table and began to clean up my mess. When I finished washing the dishes and putting them away, I strolled over to the sitting room on the main floor. I went to one of the couches and lay down before surveying the large room.

I had been at Potter Manor for close to a day and this place still didn't feel like mine. Prior to my new home, the broomstick Sirius gave me was the most expensive thing I'd owned. It had taken me weeks to get over the surreal feeling of owning a top-of-the-line racing broom. I wondered idly how long it would take for me to accept Potter Manor as well. With these last thoughts circling inside my head, I drifted off to sleep. However I wished I haven't. What I didn't know was there would be no restful sleeping for me. I would just experience horrible nightmares from the past instead.

* * *

><p><em>(Nightmare)<em>

_Little Hangleton Graveyard; portkey from Hogwarts ground with Triwizard Cup by Crouch Jr. _

"_No," I whispered, blinking back tears as I watched Cedric get hit by the Killing curse by Peter Pettigrew . Wormtail. Cedric lying still on the ground, cold and lifeless. My eyes widened in terror during Voldemort's rebirth and monologue. _

The memory went through all the parts that had occurred on the night Cedric Diggory died in the original timeline. The details flew past me, yet oddly, they seem like they were going in slow motion at the same time. Even though, I have been through the 'Graveyard nightmare' as I'm now calling it, twice; I couldn't stop the renewal dread I felt that night.

Unfortunately, for me, after the graveyard scene was over, soon came the next nightmare. The night Sirius Black, my beloved Godfather, died after falling through the Veil of Death. Like the first nightmare, the details of that time passed me in both fast and slow motion, though I really wished the memory/nightmare would keep going in fast mode. That way, I wouldn't have to see and experience all the pain and suffering that night has caused for not only me, but my friends and the Order members as well.

_The Ministry; the Death Chamber, vision of Sirius being torture, saving Sirius from Voldemort, friends, loyal. _

_I felt like throwing up when I saw my friends being held or tortured by Death Eaters, all because I wouldn't give up the glass ball that (I wasn't aware of at the time) spoke about my destiny and why my parents died that October night._

_Prophecy, Death Eaters. Fighting, Order of the Phoenix's entrance, more fighting, Sirius fighting and killed by Bellatrix Lestrange, pain, agony, Remus holding me back so I don't followed after Sirius behind the Veil. Fear and shock overcame me powerfully as I witness Sirius' fall in slow motion. My vision blurred from all those tears as I finally realized what Remus was telling me was the truth: Sirius was never coming back!_

_Spotting Bellatrix, running after her, feeling hatred towards her, casting one of the Unforgivable spells: the Cruciatus Curse, talking. Of course, I experienced the wonderful feeling of adventure and hatred when I ran after Sirius' killer._

_Voldemort's arrival. More fighting, Professor Dumbledore entering the room, more words being exchanged between Voldemort and the Headmaster, spells being cast, Voldemort's exit, being possess by the Dark Lord. I sensed another present inside my head and suffered agony for a few minutes before pouring out all of my love for Sirius. Finally, the Minster and his gang showing up and seeing the Dark Lord. _

Next came the night Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts Headmaster died, seconds after the last nightmare ended. This one happened just like the last two.

_The Cave, being sent on a mission with the Headmaster, poisoning Professor Dumbledore in order to get the locket, retrieving said item and fighting off Inferiors. Professor Dumbledore and I heading back to Hogwarts, helping the Headmaster walk, crossing paths with Rosemary; owner of the Three Broomsticks, spotting the Dark Mark, racing up to the Astronomy tower. Draco and Professor Dumbledore exchanging words between them, being hit by the Freezing charm, watching the Headmaster being hit with the Killing curse, falling to the ground. _

_I screamed in silent alarm as I watched the event unfolding before my very eyes as the green beam of light hit the Headmaster, who didn't even dodged the deadly curse, and his rapid descend down to the ground below. I ran after Severus Snape, Dumbledore's murderer, with rage coursing through me after seeing him killed Professor Dumbledore. _

Finally, a somewhat new nightmare haunted my sleep. I had experience this memory before in the original timeline. However, with my second chance, I'd hoped I wouldn't encounter this or the last two memories again. The Muggles are always saying: '_We saved the best for last.' _Unfortunately, this line was true because the last nightmare/memory was truly the most awful. Ten times worse than the others ones I'd just went through.

_My eyes snapped open and I found myself looking at the clear black sky, no brightly lit stars or puffy clouds in sight. I stayed frozen on the ground as I stared at the beauty before my eyes. I didn't know the length of time I laid on the hard ground, but it seems to me like it was forever. Timeless. Like I'm in my own little world where nothing could hurt me and time didn't move. _

_I tried to figure out why I was lying here, but my mind was foggy and hazy and working at a snail pace, it seems. While I waited for my brain to give me the answers I seek, I would see if I could move my arms and legs and examine my body for injuries. I checked my limps first. Blinding pain shot like a rocket in all corners of my body as I shifted my extremities only a few inches. The terrible pain didn't jar my mind of the memory of why I'm in so much agony, and I almost felt a flood of confusion washed over me as I sluggishly tried to understand what had happened to me._

_Biting my lips so hard I bled so to suppress my screams, I suffered through more intense discomfort as I gradually moved my body in a sitting position. One of my hands brushed against something rough and hard and I realized there was a tree in reaching distance. Crawling, or more like dragging my hurt and aching body, I reached the tree and leaned my back heavily against the bark, now sitting in a reclined position._

_Once I settled comfortably…or as comfortably as I could in my condition, I observed my surroundings, hoping the action would give me some clue on what took place. It must have been traumatic and devastated for me not to remember. _

_The first thing I saw…or rather felt was a slightly cold breeze in the late Spring night which flew passed me as it wailed its misery and anguish at the previous day event. The second thing, which was really the first, happened to be a semi-destroyed and deserted magical castle that housed hundreds of students and staff members over the years. In front and around the ancient castle of Hogwarts were multitudes of dead bodies of various ages. The lifeless corpses were all lying in countless position of unceremonious. _

_Splashes of the red liquid know as blood wetted the deathly still and ominous scene. All things nature appeared to be mourning the loss of so many innocent and brave lives. The wind grew in strength and volume, howling like a wolf or dog would after losing a love one, making the leaves and branches on trees seems like they were doing little dances. Suddenly, the wind had stopped, causing an eerie feeling to descend on the sight. In exchanged for the wind to halt, the predawn sky opened up and icy cold rain furiously poured down, washing away some of the blood-stained bodies and grass nearby. _

_As I looked around me emptily, breathing heavy and slumped over, I tried again to remember what had happened. I became dizzy from the mental exertion and sick to my stomach as the haze cleared from my mind and gave me the answers I somewhat wanted._

_Horrified memories flew through my mind as I now recalled Colin and Dennis Creevey's bodies along with fifty students between first-through fourth lying in a mess in the Great Hall. I remembered, as a chocked sob escaped from my throat, Remus protecting me by taking the Avada Kedavra casted by Tom Riddle a.k.a., Lord Voldemort that was meant for me. Nymphadora Lupin nee Tonks had been halted by two Killing curses sent out by Antonin Dolohov and Bellatrix Lestrange._

_My beloved owl, Hedwig, innocently killed by the same deadly green light by one of the Death Eaters, who was after Hagrid and me. Dobby paid for his life with a deep knife wound in exchanged for Ron, Hermione, and my freedom after being cornered by Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Draco Malfoy. Fred Weasley became the next person to die in the warzone as he lost his life in an explosion by Augustus Rookwood. _

_I recalled in distress when Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody was taken down by the Killing curse while flying on his broomstick in mid-air by Voldemort. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Bill, and Fleur were burned alive with magic and waterproof resistance by an unknown Death Eater. _

_George, Percy (who finally came back to his family and was forgiven a year ago), Charlie, Arthur, and Molly were taken down by Voldemort, himself, for being Blood traitors and Muggle loving fools. Method used: torture and Dark magic._

_Luna Lovegood had fallen soon after, killed by Antonin Dolovhov from trying to protect Neville. I witness Neville's death almost in slow motion by his parents' murderer, Bellatrix Lestrange, but thankfully he'd managed to take her down with him before he passed away._

_Several members of the D.A. were slaughtered by various methods unleashed by unrestrained Death Eaters and dark creatures. Draco died from a deep Cutting curse to a major artery. We didn't know who casted the spell, our side or his, but it didn't really matter. As long as we stopped another Death Eater from continuing his Master's plan, we were good._

_The last group of Witches and Wizards to have fallen in this war before the madness had stopped were Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout, Sinistra, Vector, and Hagrid, Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and other Order members. _

_An unknown giant stomped on Professor Flitwick. Professors McGonagall and Sprout were eradicated by a side explosion set off by Augustus Rookwood. Professors, Sinistra, Vector, and Hagrid were bit, tortured, and mangled by several werewolves. Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and other Order members were slain by Voldemort or Death Eaters with the green unforgivable curse and other deadly curses. _

_Finally, after so many innocent lives lost in the war, Voldemort was defeated for good and the remaining Death Eaters were dead, Snape and Lucius included, or alive and arrested._

_I stayed seated on the ground. Well, I really didn't have much of a choice since pain was still surging through my body to even think about shifting an inch away. I stared at the bloody scene before my wide eyes, shock not allowing me to blink as my gaze was locked straight ahead while silent tears slowly made their way down my checks. _

Now, if witnessing the deaths of my love ones wasn't bad enough, not to mention the bloodshed and lifeless eyes, the next part would be ten times harder for me to handle.

_The battle field and Hogwarts all vanished, and I'm left alone in the cold, dark space. Whispers engulfed me, wafting all around me, getting louder and louder by the second. __"It's your fault... murderer... you killed me... you killed us... it's all your fault... you deserve to die...you should have died instead of your parents... useless... murderer... your fault... murderer..."_

_Suddenly, I felt something warm and sticky on my hands. I looked down and recognized the substance on them in the dim light surrounding me. How I wished I did not know what the stuff was, but I did and my heart and body grew cold while my face turned a sickly pale. Blood…blood of all of my friends and family was covering my hands, even though I wasn't the one who killed them. _

_How did I know the blood was from them? Because their cold, lifeless, and bloody corpses were stacked up on each other and encircled me. They were so close, I could reached out and touched them._

"_No," I whispered in horror and disgust at what I had done. I killed them…I killed them all! _

_Then in a louder volume, "NO!"_

_I screamed._

* * *

><p>I shot up from the couch, gasping for breath. I noticed my whole body was shaking like a leaf, like I was cold. I also saw my pillow was drenched with sweat and tears. My head hurt like hell and those dreams had been so terrifying! It had seemed so real…it felt like it too.<p>

All I had to do was gazed around the room to realize I was at Potter Manor and in the sitting room on the main floor. Furthermore, I remembered what happened yesterday along with everything else. Suddenly, I jumped off the furniture when I comprehend that those dreams I had were basically real. An involuntary shiver ran through my body, aftershocks of the intense emotions from the dreams.

If I began to regret leaving my family and friends like I did, I wasn't now. Not after seeing those nightmares or memories, or whatever you want to called them. In fact, seeing those images gave me more strength and courage to continue on this mission. I know the mission wasn't my responsibility; it wasn't something I should be doing anyway. Though, if I had to do it, I shouldn't be alone, the adults would have told me. Being alone was normal for me. At the Dursley's, I had to accomplished many tasks on my own…things I shouldn't even worry about. Taking on this mission was no different, only this time, I didn't have Hermione or Ron's willing help or advice.

Still, no matter how many times I reason with myself that what I'm doing would protect my family and friends, I couldn't ignore the guilt slowly eating inside me at this moment. Sure, I regretted several other things, but none were more significant than the way I left the people who cared and matter the most to me.

Once this mission is complete and I am still alive, I'm not going to be too eager to meet my love ones after this. Sure, I will be happy to see them, but even an idiot knows there is going to be a strong worded lecture coming my way once Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, and Remus get their hands on me.

I shuddered when that particular thought changed into an image. Yes, I'm definitely _not _looking forward to seeing my family again if I'm still alive! Funny, I can be in a same room as Voldemort without being scared but when it comes to my family…well, that was a different story all together.

I shook my head to clear away those thoughts and images as I turned my head to stare out the window. I couldn't see much of anything as it was still pitched black out. With a simple wave of my hand and uttering a single word, '_tempus,_' large green numbers appeared in the air in front of me. The numbers indicated it was four o' clock in the morning. Way too early for me to be up! Unfortunately, I have experience nightmares throughout my life so I knew I wouldn't get any more sleeps despite my body protesting on how tired it felt.

I placed a clammy hand against my forehead, grimacing as my scar throbbed painfully against my palm. My throat felt scratchy and raw – as if I'd been screaming for hours on end. The fact was proven when I said '_tempus.'_

_Graveyards. Battlefields. Green light. Blood. Wounds. Unseeing, lifeless eyes –_

Once again I shook the images away from my mind and slowly ascended the stairs to the Master Bedroom. Since sleep was all but impossible now, I decided I would get up and start my day early. With another wave of my hand, the lights flickered on, lighting my path to my room. When I reached my designation, the lights flashed on, giving me the ability to see where I'm going without falling like I would if the room was dark.

Quickly, I located my bag resting at the foot of my bed on the floor. Rummaged through it, I found another set of clean Muggle clothes and pulled them out. While I'm in the process of getting dressed, I made a mental note to go shopping soon so I could buy more clothes, better clothes than the ones I'm currently wearing. When I do go shopping, there are others items I need to get as well. So the simple shopping trip might just turned out to be a shopping spree instead.

After I'm completely dressed, I went down to the kitchen to fix me some breakfast. Making breakfast didn't take very long, and before I knew it, I found myself sitting down at the table with a plate full of eggs, ham, several slices of beacon, and a full glass of Orange juice. My face had lit up in surprise when I saw some editable food in the cupboards since the place has been abandoned after my grandparents' death. Despite the structure being empty for so long, someone was smart enough to place Stasis and Preservation charms on all of the food and drinks left in the cabinets and fridge. Furthermore, I noticed whoever lived here before they left had placed Cooling and Warming charms on the said food and drinks.

I did make another mental note to go grocery shopping when I go out for my shopping spree. There wasn't a lot of food in the cupboard. However, there was enough to get me buy for the next few days.

When breakfast was over, I picked up my plate, silverwares, and glass and took them over to the sink to wash them. I didn't know the spell to clean the dishes on their own, so I did them the Muggle way. I didn't mind, though, because it gave me plenty of time to organize my thoughts on today's activities.

As soon as the dishes were clean and back in their correct places, I climbed the stairs again to the Master Bedroom. As soon as I entered the room, I strolled over to my bag, reached in, and grabbed the package of parchment paper inside. I made sure to pick up my red feather quill and the bottle of ink still stashed in the bag from packing two nights ago at Hogwarts.

Then, I went the short distance from my bedroom to the family library. I made a beeline for one of the study tables after I stepped inside. I placed all the items I had carried on the table, pulled out the chair, and sat down.

I began working after that.

I set to make a list of things I wanted or needed to do, some immediately and some in the near future. I wouldn't be starting today, but I wanted to organize the rest of the summer so it would be most productive for me. I had a little over a month until my birthday and another month after that till the start of term at either Hogwarts or another school.

Below is a list I came up with:

**Check List of Things I Need to Accomplished or Do in the Near Future**

1. Start reviewing all the subjects (except Divination) from First Year to Fourth.

2. See if Potter Manor has textbooks for all subjects (except Divination) from Fifth Year to Seventh. If Potter Manor does not have these texts, purchase them in Diagon Ally for some light reading.

3. Find spell to stop certain owls.

4. Find spell to block/stop Tracking charms.

5. Research other magical schools in the world.

6. Meet with Professor Dumbledore, the Goblins, or an attorney to get enrolled into a magical school of my choice.

7. Have said attorney start a case on freeing Sirius from his 'suppose crimes' he committed.

8. Write letters to Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.

9. Write letters to Remus, Sirius, and Tonks

10. Write a letter to the Weasley family.

11. Write letters to Neville, Luna, Hermione, and Cedric

Of course, this list was a rough draft an in no particular order since I had a difficult time deciding what the most significant item was and what wasn't. Though, I would have to say one through seven were more important than eight through eleven. The list may contain the vital, however, that didn't mean it has everything - big or small – written down. There were many small items needed to be accomplished which wasn't worth mentioning on the list.

Furthermore, I probably didn't need to read up on the Fifth through Seventh Year textbooks since I hopefully will be attending another school next fall. Why, you may ask?

Well, the reason is that every school - whether magical or non – has different textbooks on students' supply list. Plus, if I'm going to continue with the mission of destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes and defeating said Dark Lord, I had to learned everything I can about magic without anyone knowing I am The Boy-Who-Lived.

As much as I love Hogwarts – it was my first real home away from the Dursleys – I saw no option that would let me attend without my identity being revealed. In addition, I speculate I would need to leave the school for various periods of time and numerous trips in order to achieve said mission. In order to do this, I would have to let the Headperson and Deputy of the school know about my plans.

If I continue at Hogwarts, the student population along with my friends will wonder where I am, including Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and the Order, who will want to interfere in the mission. I know the Headmaster would not halt my plans, but he would talk me out of continuing on my own. He would say I'm much too young to be thinking about this, patted me on the head, and tell me more experience overage Witches and Wizards should do the mission. Not only that, but I would either be back at the Dursleys, the Burrow, or Hogwarts, wondering what was happening during the mission, if anyone was hurt, and if the Order destroyed another Horcrux yet.

I couldn't do that to myself. The lack of freedom and news would drive me mad. However, it would kill me seeing my friends and love ones hurting when they hear the news of my disappearance. Furthermore, continuing at Hogwarts could ruin my second chance at saving lives, no matter if I have gifts, abilities, or new knowledge.

So going back to Hogwarts was out of the question, which is the reason for the research on other magical schools. Unless I wanted to do this on my own, I would probably have a good chance being accepted into another school if I had others helping me. Professor Dumbledore could help me (once he heard me out) by getting me enrolled and transfer my grades. This way I wouldn't have to take entrance exams at the new school.

However, worrying about getting into another school could wait for the time being. I still had plenty of time before I had to fret about it. Besides, the Hogwarts' students weren't even out of school yet. They still had four more days to go.

No, my biggest concern right now was reviewing and learning any spell that could be useful in keeping me safe and alive while hiding from both the Light and Dark side.

That's why I needed to go back and read the First through Fourth Year's books. I know there wouldn't be anything useful in those pages to keep overage and very highly skilled Death Eaters from Potter Manor, but I did know there were spells in those four sets of textbooks to give me protection and a fighting chance. The spells which would keep me safe and keep the Death Eaters unaware of my exact location are bound to be in the Fifth through Seventh Year's books. If the spells I'm searching for are not in those texts, I would have to hunt the ones that do at the book store in Diagon Alley.

Moreover, I planned on writing to all of my friends and family before I leave the country. I don't planned on telling them what I'm doing, but I do want to tell them I am not dead and I'm undergoing some training and studying sessions at my hideout. Just a little bit of information to give them to prevent the upcoming insanity they are bound to have with my disappearance and the relief in knowing I'm safe and alive.

The reason why I needed to locate the spell to block certain owls is because I didn't have time to respond to the letters from my friends. Scanning the envelopes to see if they were safe to open was another matter. Plus, someone (mostly the Headmaster, Sirius, Remus, or Molly Weasley) could put a tracking spell on the bird or letter in order to discover where I am. This is the main reason for the blockage. The only owls I wasn't going to block were school, my possibly new friends, Gringott, and my own owl. I sincerely doubt I would uncover the spell in school books. Heck, I probably wouldn't come across the particular spell unless it's either in a Ministry Personnel or in a Dark Arts book. The volumes were going to be illegal either way, which would make it much harder for me to get, especially with my celebrity statue.

Step #5 was researching other magical schools. I never looked up information on any schools, even Hogwarts, so I wasn't really sure where to go. I'm sure I could go to Hermione for help, but then she would ask unwanted questions. Questions I did not want to answer at this time.

Of course, I had already gone over possibly meeting Professor Dumbledore to help me get enrolled into a school. As for the Goblins, I need to set up a transaction from my vault to the school of my choice so I can pay my intuition automatically. I will probably be meeting them sometime in the near future to work out some financial stuff.

At first, I pondered the thought of hiring an attorney and the reason for it. Then, I thought the attorney could help me get into another school if I felt Dumbledore wouldn't able to do it. A thought suddenly popped into my head that helping me into a new magical school might not be in the attorney's job description. If Dumbledore won't work with me on getting in a new school, I'm sure with a higher pay raised, I could get the attorney to.

Soon a second thought appeared in my head. Another reason I should get attorney is to start a case on freeing Sirius from the crimes he was falsely accused of. I'm sure both the Headmaster and the Goblins would help me in this project as well. I could also have the attorney deal with any problems (financial or general) that comes up if I can't make it over to London, assuming I'm attending another school during that time period.

By the time I had finished my list for the summer, I had only a few minutes till lunch time. I became hungry once again, and I trudged down to the kitchen for some food. I made an easy dish of sandwiches with bacon and mayonnaise inside, and had a butterbeer to wash it all down with.

Fifteen minutes later, I walked back to the library to put my stuff up when I was met with a surprise. There, at the window, tapping at the glass was a magnificent barn owl with a letter tied to its leg. Seeing the owl, unsure if it was from the Headmaster or Minister demanding I come back to Hogwarts, I made a mental note to start finding the spell to block and stop the owls from locating me as soon as possible. I opened the window and the unknown owl flew in with a thick envelope. The unidentified owl landed on a table closest to the window and then lifted his leg up so I could untie the paper from it.

I tore open the envelope (once I saw it was from Gringotts) after it was no longer attach to the owl and said animal had left for his return trip back home.

* * *

><p>Monday, June 26th, 1995<p>

Dear Mr. Potter,

This letter is to inform you of a possible meeting with me as you've expressed to Blackclaw two days ago. If you would like, the meeting can be set up for 8 a.m. on Wednesday, June 28th. If the time and date is not acceptable, please send your owl back to me with an alternative time and date.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate on asking via owl. If you do have any concerns and wish to wait, we can address them at the meeting.

Until we meet,

Griphook

Potter Family Account Manger

Gringotts Bank

Diagon Alley, London

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Now, you know how the characters who didn't died in Canon were killed in this chapter. Hopefully, once my beta has finished with this chapter, the nightmare scene will be a whole lot better than it is at the moment. I probably have mention than before and I'm sorry if I have, but I wanted you all to know that the story will be picking up its pace in the next chapter. The pace will still be slow but slightly faster now that Harry had items to accomplished on his list for the summer

Next chapter: Harry have his meeting with Griphook at Gringotts.


	12. Author's Note

Sorry everyone, this is just an author's note.

I just wanted to let everyone know I'm not dead. I just have been busy with college and the piles of homework the teachers are giving me. Plus, I have been struggling with the next chapter.

I haven't abandoned the story. I hope to have the next chapter up before summer is here. I won't make any promises since I obviously can't keep them. However, I have missed writing for the story and trying my best to come up with an idea for the next chapter, so I intend to get back on it and come up with something for the next chapter.

On another note, I have been getting some reviews mentioning that Harry is weak and such a wimp. That might be true since we all have different opinions. Personally, I don't think he is wimp, but that's just me. Anyway, please know I'm planning on making him stronger and braver in the future chapters. It's just a slow process right now. I have gone back to the Graveyard scene and edited out some of the parts where Harry was crying. I hope that helps a little so readers won't think Harry is such a wimp.

Please also know that this is my first Harry Potter story so it might take a while to make Harry in character like he was in the 7th book.

Sorry for the long wait. I will try my best to get the next chapter out sometime in May. Just please stay with me.

-Harry Albus Potter Dumbledore


End file.
